Sylvie Guillem turns 40 next year, the age at which female etoiles are no longer allowed to perform at the Paris Opera Ballet (men can carry on for a further five years, although this inequality is at last under review), so chances to see her may become rarer. Catch her at Covent Garden – where she is Principal Guest Artist – in the Guillem-and-friends season, Stories of Love and Passion’ (9-14 August; 020 7304 4000; www.royaloperahouse.org), in which she will be dancing MacMillan’s Winter Dreams and Ashton’s Marguerite and Armand with performers from Paris and La Scala.
Or see her earlier at a couple of small festivals in southern France; Vaison-la-Romaine (28 July; 00 33 4 90 28 74 74; www.vaison-festival. com) and Perpignan (31 July; 00 33 4 68 66 33 75; www. estivales.com), where she performs Russell Maliphant’s breathtaking Broken Fall with George Piper Dances.
