Renowned South African performance artist Robyn Orlin has been honoured with a prestigious award from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in recognition of her significant contribution to choreography and the arts.

Sarkozy has made Orlin a Knight of the Ordre National du Mérite – the French national Order of Merit. The award is bestowed upon French nationals and foreigners in recognition of distinguished civil and military achievements.  
 
Orlin, who now lives in Germany with her husband Oliver Schmitz and her adopted daughter Ruby Nomalanga, received the award at a ceremony, held in Johannesburg at the end of last month.  
 
"We are proud of her, a South African receiving this prestigious award from France," said Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan in Pretoria last week. "It is a testimony of the calibre of artists from South Africa that are being recognised internationally." 
 
“I didn’t ever think I would get something like that but then... the French really have a high respect for culture,” Orlin told the Times.   
 
Orlin's career began in the 1980s when she joined and created a contemporary dance section within the Federated Union of Black Artists' Academy.  
 
In spite of her now global reputation for being controversial and rebellious, Orlin is widely respected for pushing the boundaries of dance to a point of redefining the art form. 
 
Orlin combines dance with theatre, opera and multimedia to address social issues and explore cultures. Some of her pieces include “Daddy I've seen this piece 6 times and I still don't know why they are hurting each other” which deals with issues of power, and “We must eat our suckers with the wrappers on...” which deals with HIV/Aids.  
 
Her latest work which she presented  at the FNB Dance Umbrella, currently taking place in Johannesburg is entitled “Walking next to our shoes… intoxicated by strawberries and cream, we enter continents without knocking” and explores the Zulu singing and dancing competitions known as Iscathamiya  
 
Orlin has won several awards for her work, including the FNB Vita Award for the best choreographer in 1996, the Jan Faber Award for the most subversive choreography in 2000, and the British Theatre's Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in 2003.

Source: SAGN / BuaNews