Maurice Béjart
Maurice Béjart | |
|---|---|
_by_Erling_Mandelmann_-_2.jpg) Béjart in 1988 | |
| Born | Maurice-Jean Berger 1 January 1927 Marseille, France |
| Died | 22 November 2007 (aged 80) Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Occupation(s) | Dancer, choreographer and opera director |
Maurice Béjart (French:
Biography
Maurice-Jean Berger was born in Marseille, France, in 1927, the son of French philosopher Gaston Berger. Fascinated by a recital of Serge Lifar, he decided to devote himself entirely to dance. In South France days, he had studied under Mathilde Kschessinska.
In 1945, he enrolled as a corps de ballet at the Opéra de Marseille. From 1946, he had studied under Madam Rousanne Sarkissian, Léo Staats, Madam Lyubov Yegorova and Olga Preobrajenska at "Studio Wacker", etc. in Paris.
In 1948, he also trained with Janine Charrat, Yvette Chauviré and then with Roland Petit, in addition he had studied under Vera Volkova at London.[2][3][4]
In 1954, he founded the Ballet de l'Étoile company (dissolved in 1957). In 1960 he founded the
In 1973, with the Ballet du XXe siecle, he premiered "Golestan", on a poem by Sa'di, based on Iranian traditional music. The ballet was commissioned by the Shiraz-Persepolis Festival of Arts where it was premiered. The first performance of "Improvisation sur Mallarme III" with music by Boulez also took place at that Festival in 1973. "Farah", also based on Iranian traditional music was the Ballet's own commission, premiered in Brussels in 1976 and brought to the Shiraz-Persepolis Festival that same year. The 1976 Festival also witnessed the first performance of "Heliogabalus", based on a poem by Artaud. The Festival's patron was Farah Pahlavi, the former Empress of Iran, with whom Béjart kept strong ties to the end.
In 1987 he moved to
Among his works is a thoroughly revised version of
Boléro
One of Béjart's masterpiece works of dance was choreography he set to French composer Maurice Ravel's "
Dance schools
Béjart was the founder of several 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
During his lifetime, Béjart received many awards and distinctions for his contributions to the arts.[7]
- 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.[8]
- 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.
Filmography
- 1975: Je suis né à Venise with Jorge Donn, Shonah Mirk, Philippe Lison and Barbara
References
- OCLC 11814265.
- ^ Maurice Béjart
- ^ Béjart, Maurice (1927-2007) Archived 4 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Maurice Béjart 1922~2007" Shinsokan Dance Magazine, Special Issue Volume XVII No.4 2008, Japan
- ^ Dunning, Jennifer (25 November 1985). "Dance: Bejart Company Performs 'Bolero'". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
- ^ Anderson, Jack (8 June 1990). "Review/Ballet; Fashion Merger: Dance, Dollars And a New Scent". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
- ^ Cruickshank, Judith (24 November 2007). "Maurice Béjart: Influential choreographer who attracted huge audiences to ballet". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ "Bisherige Preisträger*innen" (in German). Retrieved 22 August 2020.
External links
- Béjart Ballet Lausanne
- Rudra Béjart School
- Publications by and about Maurice Béjart in the catalogue Helveticat of the Swiss National Library
- Obituary in The Guardian UK
- Lisa De Rycke (2005). "Maurice Béjart". In Andreas Kotte (ed.). OCLC 62309181.
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