Back to Béjart

On 22 November it will be five years since the death of the world-renowned French choreographer Maurice Béjart. He became a big name during his time in Brussels, where, from 1960 on, his Ballet of the 20^th Century gave the genre a new impetus with productions that could even fill Vorst Nationaal/Forest National. It was Béjart, in fact, who opened that venue on 8 October 1970. He achieved that popularity by introducing elements from other dance styles and from popular music, emphasising the sensuality and eroticism of the dancing (male) body and not hesitating to present big stories and mass spectacles for a broad public. His interpretation of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring was the beginning of his career in Belgium. After his Brussels years, Béjart moved to Switzerland in 1987; there he founded the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, which still keeps his heritage alive today. Gil Roman, once a dancer with the Ballet of the 20^th Century and assistant director of the Béjart Ballet Lausanne since 1993, is now its artistic director. This month he is bringing no fewer than seven Béjart ballets to three Belgian cities, including Brussels. Vorst Nationaal/Forest National will once more host two Béjart ballets: on two successive evenings the double bill Light – Boléro will be danced there. Light, which is made up of very diverse elements, was premiered in Brussels back in 1981; the music for it is taken from the legendary avant-garde group the Residents, which is made up of anonymous band members, and the Californian-Brussels band Tuxedomoon. But there are also musical and visual references to Italian figures such as Vivaldi, the puppet character Pulcinella, and Casanova and to the American choreographer of the solo Blue Lady, Carolyn Carlson. Béjart’s Boléro, to Ravel’s famous music, is one of his all-time classics; it too was premiered in Brussels, way back in 1961. Béjart entrusted the lead role – the Melody – alternately to a male and a female dancer, while a group of dancers represented Rhythm. For these revivals Gil Roman is sticking strictly to Béjart’s 
productions.

Béjart Festival 10 & 11/11, 20.00, €70 > 100, Vorst Nationaal/Forest National, avenue Victor Rousseaulaan 208, Vorst/Forest, 0900-69.500, www.vorstnationaal.be, www.forestnational.be