Maurice Béjart

Maurice Béjart was born in Marseille on January 1st, 1927. He began his career as a dancer in Vichy in 1946, after which he worked under Janine Charrat, Roland Petit and especially as a member of the International Ballet in London. During a tour with the Cullberg Ballet in Sweden (1949), he discovered the world of choreographic expressionism. A contract for a Swedish film introduced him to Stravinsky. Upon returning to Paris, he made his first steps in choreography with pieces by Chopin, under the guidance of the critic Jean Laurent.  At this point the dancer also became a choreographer. In 1955, at the Ballets de l’Étoile, he ventured into uncharted territory with Symphonie pour un homme seul. He caught the eye of Maurice Huisman, the new director of the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, where Béjart choreographed a triumphant Rite of Spring four years later. The following year, he founded the Ballet du XXe Siècle in Brussels, an international company which he led. The company toured the world the world over as the list of his creations continued to grow, from Boléro, Messe pour le temps présent and The Firebird.

In 1987, the Ballet du XXe Siècle moved to Lausanne, the Olympic capital, and became the Béjart Ballet Lausanne. In 1992, Béjart decided to reduce the size of his company to some 30 dancers to “rediscover the essence of being a performer.” That same year, he founded the École-Atelier Rudra  Béjart Lausanne. Featuring among the many ballets created for the BBL are Le Mandarin merveilleux, King Lear – Prospero, À propos de Shéhérazade,  Lumière, MutationX, La Route de la soie, Le Manteau, Enfant-Roi, La Lumière  des eaux and Le Presbytère n’a rien perdu de son charme, and ni le jardin de son  éclat. Béjart was also a director of the theater (La Reine verte, Casta Diva, Cinq Nô modernes,  A-6-Roc), opera (Salomé, La Traviata and Don Giovanni) and film (Bhakti, Paradoxe sur le comédien, among others). In addition, he published several books a novel, a memoir, a diary and a play. 

In 2007, on the eve of his 80th birthday, he created La Vie du danseur racontée par Zig et Puce. Upon finishing what would be his final work, Le Tour du monde en 80 minutes, Maurice Béjart died in Lausanne on November 22, 2007.