Maurice Béjart

Maurice Béjart (French: [beʒaʁ]; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French dancer, choreographer and opera director. Béjart ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He helped make new types of ballet.^[1] After his death, he was given Swiss citizenship.

Maurice Béjart
Béjart in 1988
Born	Maurice-Jean Berger (1927-01-01)1 January 1927 Marseille, France
Died	22 November 2007(2007-11-22) (aged 80) Lausanne, Switzerland
Occupation(s)	Dancer, choreographer and opera director

Biography

Maurice-Jean Berger was born in Marseille, France, in 1927. He was the son of the philosopher Gaston Berger. Berger watched a recital of Serge Lifar. This recital inspired him to make his life about dancing. Maurice studied under (was a student of) Mathilde Kschessinska when he lived in South France.

Béjart directing dancers Rita Porlvoorde and Bertrand Pie in Pli selon Pli, Brussels, 1976.

In 1945, Béjart started working at the Opéra de Marseille. After 1946, he studied under Madam Rousanne Sarkissian, Léo Staats, Madam Lyubov Yegorova and Olga Preobrajenska in Paris. In 1948, he trained with Janine Charrat, Yvette Chauviré, and Roland Petit. He also studied under Vera Volkova at London.^[2][3][4] In 1954, he created the Ballet de l'Étoile company. This company stopped running in 1957. In 1960, he founded the Ballet du XXe Siècle in Brussels. This company would stop running in 1987.

In 1973, with the Ballet du XXe siecle, Béjart first premiered "Golestan". This ballet was based on Iranian traditional music. In 1987 he moved to Lausanne in Switzerland. Here, he founded the Béjart Ballet Lausanne.

Directing dancers at the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, Switzerland, 1988.

Béjart made many works. One of these was a remade version of The Nutcracker. This was first performed in 2000. It used Tchaikovsky's original score, but changed the plot and characters.

One of Béjart's best pieces was choreography set to the song Boléro. The New York Times called Béjart's "Bolero" one of his most popular dances.^[5]

Dance schools

Béjart founded many dance schools:

• the Mudra School in Brussels, 1970–1988;
• the Mudra Afrique School in Dakar, 1977–1985;
• the Rudra School in Lausanne, 1992–2007.

Awards

Béjart was given many awards for his work.^[6]

• He received the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun.
• He received the Belgian Ordre de la Couronne.
• In 1974, he won the Erasmus Prize.
• In 1994, he was appointed to the Académie des Beaux Arts.
• Also in 1994, he received the Deutscher Tanzpreis.^[7]
• In 2003, he was appointed Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres.
• Also in 2003, he won the Prix Benois de la Danse for lifetime achievement.

Movies

• 1975: Je suis né à Venise with Jorge Donn, Shonah Mirk, Philippe Lison and Barbara