The Prague-born Jirí Kylián, the creative spirit of the Nederlands Dans Theater, has been awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 6th International Festival of Contemporary Dance (14th - 29th June 2008).

The selection of Jirí Kylián, proposed by the Festival’s Director, Ismael Ivo, who is also Artistic Counsel of ImPulsTanz - Vienna International Dance Festival, was approved by the Venice Biennale management. The motivation for the selection states: “Jirí Kylián has succeeded in imposing his unmistakable vision of contemporary ballet with the force of genius and grace. His works, classical in structure, modern in the mobility of the body, contemporary in taste, evolutional and highly personal in aesthetic form, imbued with the most intimate and moving musicality, are examples of pure beauty and intelligence of the body, instants of marvel resulting from an intimate understanding of man as a whole, flesh, mind and spirit. A humanist without limits, Kylián has placed his creativity at the service of communication between peoples, from his home, Prague, to Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and rest of the world, with the acumen of a positive, well-meaning talent, which is no stranger to all that lives on this earth”.

Together with Nederlands Dans Theater I, II & III Jirí Kylián was guest at the ImPulsTanz - Vienna International Dance Festival in 1998 and 2006.

In 2007 the award for Lifetime Achievement was attributed to German choreographer Pina Bausch. In the same year Austrian choreographer Chris Haring, who is also guest at ImPulsTanz Festival 2008 (s. "Posing Project B" ), was honoured with the Golden Lion for Best Performance in Contemporary Dance ( "Posing Project B - the art of seduction" ).