Born in Marseille on 1 January 1927 and died in Switzerland November 22, 2007, Maurice Béjart was a dancer, choreographer widely recognized in Europe and even in the world. It’s an homage to Molière that he took as a pseudonym, the surname of the wife of this one, Armande Bejart.
At 14, when he decided to devote himself fully to the dance, Béjart is accepted at the Paris Opera. Student of the best in the discipline, as Lyubov Egorova, Janine Charrat, Yvette Chauvire or Roland Petit from 1948, Béjart holds the key to a bright future as a dancer.
The dance became his only destiny, he left Paris and settled in Belgium. It’s in Brussels that he spent 27 years in this life, but it's also here that he created his famous version of The Rite of Spring. In 80 years of existence, his many dancing creations amazing and creative will allow him to produce around the world, via Vienna, Cairo, Versailles but also Tokyo.
Then, he created his famous company “Bejart Ballet Lausanne”, which resided in Lausanne and which became later a school dance.
I deeply admire Maurice Bejart. This man has literally revolutionized the dance because he was able to initiate a large neophyte public to the modern dance.
He also attempted to rehabilitate the male dancing. With an extreme demand to his dancers, he managed to break into the artistic world of dance where places are rare. Besides, Béjart, perfectionist and a follower of true performance feel free to mix the worlds of music, lyric theater and dance. This innovative mix where all is controlled, make of Bejart ballets, works amazing and bewitching. The universal themes and major current issues like AIDS or ecology not neglected in his creations made of Béjart an emblem of the dance.
The beauty and creativity of his work which requires hard work , has marked all minds around the world and particularly mine : A mind of dancer that he dream of becoming, maybe one day, as Béjart, a real worldwide symbol of the dance...
