Maurice Bejart is one of the most outstanding choreographers of our time. Maurice bejart - biography, photographs troupe bejart
The outstanding ballet master Maurice Béjart is among those who in many ways turned the traditional idea of ballet upside down. His success as a stage director and teacher is largely due to the fact that he started out as a dancer and himself followed the path along which he then guided his students.
Bejart's achievement is that, striving to use the plastic possibilities of the dancer's body in a variety of ways, he not only puts on solo parts, but also introduces exclusively male corps de ballet into some productions. Thus, he consistently develops the concept of a universal male dance, based on the traditions of ancient shows and mass actions of different peoples.
The future choreographer was the son of a native of Turkish Kurdistan and a Catalan woman. As the choreographer himself later admitted, this combination of national roots left an imprint on all of his work. Bejart began studying choreography in 1941, and in 1944 he made his debut with the ballet company of the Marseille Opera. However, in order to form an individual creative manner, he decided to continue his education. Therefore, since 1945, Bejart improved himself with L. Stats, L.N. Egorova, Madame Ruzan in Paris and V. Volkova in London. As a result, he has mastered many different choreographic schools.
At the beginning of his career, Bejart did not tied himself to strict contracts, performing in a variety of troupes. He worked with R. Petit and J. Charr in 1948, performed at the Inglesby International Ball in London in 1949 and at the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1950-1952.
All this left an imprint on his future activity as a choreographer, since eclecticism, a synthesis of techniques taken from different choreographic systems, gradually became a distinctive feature of his style.
In Sweden, Bejart made his debut as a choreographer, staging fragments of the ballet "The Firebird" by I. Stravinsky for the film. To realize his creative ideas, Bejart in 1953, together with J. Laurent, founded the Ballet de l'Etoile troupe in Paris, which existed until 1957.
At that time, Bejart staged ballets and at the same time acted in them in the main roles. The repertoire was based on a combination of works by classical and contemporary authors. Thus, in 1953, the Bejart troupe staged A Midsummer Night's Dream to the music of F. Chopin, the next year the ballet The Taming of the Shrew to the music of D. Scarlatti was released, and in 1955 three ballets were staged at once - Beauty in a Boa. to music by D. Rossini, "Journey to the Heart of a Child" and "The Sacrament" by Henri. Bejart developed this principle in the future. In 1956 he directed "Tanit, or Twilight of the Gods", and in 1963 - "Prometheus" by Hovhan.
In 1959, the choreography of the ballet "The Rite of Spring" made by Bejart, staged for the Royal Ballet of Belgium on the stage of the Moner Theater in Brussels, was so enthusiastically received that Bejart finally decided to found his own troupe "Ballet of the 20th Century", which he headed in 1969 ... Part of the Brussels troupe became its core. At first, Bejart continued to work in Brussels, but after a few years he moved with the troupe to Lausanne. There they performed under the name "Ballet of Bejart".
Together with this troupe, Bejart undertook a grandiose experiment to create synthetic performances, where dance, pantomime, singing (or the word) take an equal place. At the same time, Bejart acted in a new capacity for himself as a production designer. This experiment led to the fact that it was necessary to expand the size of the stage.
Bejart proposed a fundamentally new solution to the rhythmic and space-time design of the performance. The introduction of elements of dramatic play into the choreography determines the vivid dynamism of his synthetic theater. Bejart was the first choreographer to use the vast spaces of sports arenas for choreographic performances. During the action, an orchestra and a choir were located on a huge platform, the action could develop anywhere in the arena, and sometimes even in several places at the same time.
This technique made it possible to make all spectators the participants in the performance. The spectacle was complemented by a huge screen on which images of individual dancers appeared. All these techniques were aimed not only at attracting the public, but also at its kind of shocking. One such synthesis-based performance was The Torment of Saint Sebastian, staged in 1988 with a stage orchestra, chorus, vocal solos, and dance performed by ballet dancers.
Bejart has previously combined various types of arts in one performance. In this style, in particular, he staged in 1961 the ballet Gala to the music of Scarlatti, which was shown at the Venice Theater. In the same year, in Brussels, Bejart, together with E. Closson and J. Charra, staged a synthetic performance "The Four Sons of Aimon" to the music of the composers of the 15th-16th centuries.
Bejart's creative searches aroused the interest of spectators and specialists. In 1960 and 1962 he was awarded the Theater of Nations prize, and in 1965 he became a laureate of the Paris Dance Festival.
To develop his ideas, Bejar needed like-minded people. And in 1970 he founded a special studio school in Brussels. The bright shocking and staginess characteristic of the 20th century is reflected in the name of the studio - "Mudra", which is an acronym invented by Bejart, reflecting his interest in the classical dance of the East.
Bejart is one of the most complex and controversial figures in contemporary choreographic art. In theoretical statements, he insists on returning the dance to its original ritual character and meaning. He believes that with the help of such artistic and aesthetic experiments as he conducts, it is possible to reveal the main thing in dance - its ancient universal fundamental principles, common to the dance art of all races and peoples. Hence, Bejart's constant interest in the choreographic cultures of the East and Africa arises. The master is especially interested in the art of Japan. Perhaps that is why many of the dancers who work for him are Japanese.
Today, Bejart is specially invited to various theaters to stage individual performances. But he also has some personal attachments. So, many years of cooperation associate him with M. Plisetskaya. He staged the ballet Isadora for her, as well as several recitals for her recent performances. The most famous among them is the mini-ballet "The Vision of the Rose". Over the years, Bejart also worked with V. Vasiliev. For the first time Vasiliev performed the version of I. Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka, staged by Bejart, and together with E. Maksimova he performed the title roles in S. Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet.
Websites about Bejart
The 90th anniversary of the birth of the great choreographer of the twentieth century - Maurice BEZHART
real name Maurice-Jean Berge; January 1, 1927, Marseille - November 22, 2007, Lausanne) became a legend for a long time. The ballet The Rite of Spring, staged by him in 1959, shocked not only the world of classical dance, but the whole world in general. Bejart, like a magician, pulled the ballet out of academic captivity, cleansed it of the dust of centuries and gave millions of spectators a dance that seethes with energy, sensuality, rhythms of the twentieth century, a dance in which dancers occupy a special position.
In contrast to the classical ballet performance, where ballerinas reign, in Bejart's performances, as it once was in the enterprise, the dancers dominate. Young, fragile, lithe as a vine, with singing arms, muscular torsos, slender waists. Maurice Bejart himself said that he loves to identify himself - and identifies more fully, happily - with the dancer, and not with the dancer. “On the battlefield that I have chosen for myself - in the life of dance - I have given the dancers what they were entitled to. I have left nothing of the effeminate and salon dancer. I returned their gender to the swans - the gender of Zeus, who seduced Leda. " However, with Zeus, things are not so simple. He seduced Ledoux, but he did another good feat. Turning into an eagle (according to another version - by sending an eagle), he kidnapped the son of the Trojan king, an extraordinary beauty young man Ganymede, took him to Olympus and made him a cupbearer. So Leda and Zeus separately, and the Bejart boys separately. There is nothing effeminate or salon in them, here you can agree with Bejart, but as for the sex of Zeus, it does not work.
These boys themselves do not yet understand who they are and who they will become, possibly men, but most likely they have a slightly different future. In the ballets of the master, these boys appear in all their youthful seductiveness and exquisite plasticity. Their bodies either tear the stage space like lightning, then they whirl in a frantic round dance, pouring out the young energy of their bodies into the hall, then, for a moment, froze, tremble like cypress trees from a gentle breeze.
In the ballet "Dionysus" (1984) there is an episode where only the dancers are engaged, and it lasts a fantastically long time - twenty-five minutes! Twenty-five minutes of a man's dance, blazing like fire. There has never been anything like this in the history of ballet theater. It happens that Bejart gives women's parties to men. For the premiere of the Paris Opera, Patrick Dupont, he creates a miniature "Salome". Bejart changes the plot of the ballet "The Wonderful Mandarin", where instead of the Girl, he has a Young Prostitute, dressed in a woman's dress. The footage captured Bejart himself, acting as a partner, he dances the tango "Kumparsita", merging in a passionate embrace with the young dancer of his troupe. It looks natural and inspired.
Jorge Donne. Bolero
But this does not mean that in his work Maurice Bejart is inspired only by dancers. He also works with outstanding ballerinas, creating unique performances and miniatures for them.
“I am a patchwork quilt. I am all - from small pieces, pieces torn by me from everyone whom life has put in my way. I played Thumb-Boy topsy-turvy: The pebbles were scattered in front of me, I just picked them up, and I continue to do so to this day. “I just picked it up” - how simply Bejart speaks about himself and his work. But his "patchwork quilt" is more than two hundred ballets, ten opera performances, several plays, five books, films and video films.
Bejart Maurice Bejart Career: Ballet
Birth: France, 1.1.1927
Usually the viewer admires the art of an actor, performer or dancer. But he rarely remembers the names of those who created for him the fabulous spectacle of the performance. The average viewer also rarely ponders whether what he sees is superior to what he sees previously. He admires the colorful action that unfolds on the stage, and it seems to him magnificent and interesting.
The outstanding ballet master Maurice Béjart is among those who largely overturned the traditional idea of ballet. His luck as a stage director and teacher is largely due to the fact that he started out as a dancer and walked the path along which he later guided his students.
Bejart's achievement is that, striving to use the plastic capabilities of the dancer's body in a variety of ways, he not only puts on solo parts, but also introduces only the male corps de ballet into some productions. Thus, he consistently develops the concept of a universal male dance, based on the traditions of ancient shows and mass actions of different peoples.
The future choreographer was the son of a native of Turkish Kurdistan and a Catalan woman. As the choreographer himself later admitted, this combination of national roots left an imprint on all of his work. Bejart began studying choreography in 1941, and in 1944 he made his debut with the ballet company of the Marseille Opera. However, to form an individual creative habit, he decided to continue his education. Therefore, since 1945, Bejart improved himself with L. Stats, L.N. Egorova, Madame Ruzan in Paris and V. Volkova in London. As a result, he mastered the sea of different choreographic schools.
At the beginning of his career, Bejart did not tied himself to strict contracts, performing in a variety of troupes. He worked with R. Petit and J. Charr in 1948, performed at the Inglesby International Ball in London in 1949 and at the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1950-1952.
All this left an imprint on his future business as a choreographer, because eclecticism, a synthesis of techniques taken from different choreographic systems, is gradually becoming a distinctive feature of his style.
In Sweden, Bejart made his debut as a choreographer, staging fragments of the ballet "The Firebird" by I. Stravinsky for the film. To realize his creative ideas, Bejart in 1953, together with J. Laurent, created in Paris the Balle de l'Etoile troupe, which existed until 1957.
At that time, Bejart staged ballets and at the same time performed in them in the main roles. The repertoire was based on a combination of works by classical and contemporary authors. So, in 1953, the Bejart troupe staged A Midsummer Night's Dream to the music of F. Chopin, the next year the ballet The Taming of the Shrew to the music of D. Scarlatti was released, and in 1955 three ballets were immediately staged - Beauty in a Boa. to music by D. Rossini, "Journey to the Heart of a Child" and "The Sacrament" by Henri. Bejart developed this principle in the future. In 1956 he staged "Tanit, or the half-eyes of the gods", and in 1963 - "Prometheus" by Hovhan.
In 1959, the choreography of the ballet The Rite of Spring, staged for the Royal Ballet of Belgium at the Moner Theater in Brussels, was so enthusiastic that Bejart finally decided to found his own troupe, Ballet of the 20th Century, which he headed in 1969 year. Its core was the share of the Brussels troupe. At first, Bejart continued to work in Brussels, but after a few years he moved with the troupe to Lausanne. There they performed under the name "Ballet of Bejart".
Together with this troupe, Bejart undertook an ambitious experience in creating synthetic performances, where dance, pantomime, singing (or word) occupy an equal position. At the same time, Bejart acted in a new capacity for himself as a production designer. This experience led to the fact that it was necessary to expand the size of the stage.
Bejart proposed a fundamentally new conclusion of the rhythmic and spatio-temporal design of the performance. The introduction of elements of dramatic play into the choreography determines the dazzling dynamism of his synthetic theater. Bejart was the first choreographer to use the vast spaces of sports arenas for choreographic performances. During the action, an orchestra and a choir group were located on a huge platform, the action could be played anywhere in the arena, and occasionally moreover in several places at the same time.
This technique allowed the participants in the performance to complete all spectators. The performance was complemented by a huge screen on which images of individual dancers appeared. All these techniques were aimed not only at attracting the public, but also at its special shocking. One of these performances based on synthesis was "The Torment of St. Sebastian", staged in 1988 with the participation of a stage orchestra, chorus, vocal solos, as well as dance performed by ballet dancers.
Bejart has previously combined various types of arts in one performance. In this style, in particular, he staged in 1961 the ballet Gala to the music of Scarlatti, the one that was staged at the Venice Theater. In the same year, in Brussels, Bejart, together with E. Closson and J. Charra, staged a synthetic performance "The Four Sons of Aimon" to the music of the composers of the 15th-16th centuries.
Bejart's creative searches aroused the interest of spectators and specialists. In 1960 and 1962 he was awarded the Theater of Nations prize, and in 1965 he became a laureate of the Paris Dance Festival.
To develop his ideas, Bejar needed like-minded people. Yves 1970 he created a special studio school in Brussels. The dazzling shocking and staginess characteristic of the 20th century is reflected in the name of the studio - "Mudra", which is an acronym invented by Bejart, reflecting his interest in the classical dance of the East.
Bejart is one of the most complex and controversial figures in contemporary choreographic art. In theoretical statements, he insists on returning the dance to its original ritual character and meaning. He believes that with the help of such artistic and aesthetic experiments as he conducts, it is permissible to discover the main thing in dance - its ancient universal fundamental principles, common to the dance art of all races and peoples. Hence, Bejart's continuous interest in the choreographic cultures of the East and Africa arises. The master is especially interested in the art of Japan. Perhaps that is why many of the dancers who work for him are Japanese.
Today, Bejart is deliberately invited to various theaters to stage individual performances. But he also has some personal attachments. So, many years of cooperation associate him with M. Plisetskaya. He choreographed the ballet Isadora for her, as well as a few recitals for her last performances. The most famous among them is the mini-ballet "The Vision of the Rose". Over the years, Bejart also worked with V. Vasiliev. For the first time Vasiliev performed the version of I. Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka, staged by Bejart, and together with E. Maksimova he performed the title roles in S. Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet. In 1978, the Bejart troupe toured Moscow and Leningrad.
One of the most prominent ballet masters and choreographers of the 20th century is the Frenchman Maurice Béjart. This man in many ways turned the traditional ideas about ballet, and his troupe successfully toured around the world for several decades.
Biography of Bejart
Maurice Béjart was born in Marseille on January 1, 1927. Mother is Catalan and father was born in Senegal. As Bejart himself has repeatedly noted, such a combination of national roots strongly influenced his work. Maurice very early began to study ballet and study choreography. Bejart studied with excellent choreographers, representatives of various schools: L. Egorova, Madame Ruzan, L. Stats, V. Volkova, Roland Petit. Maurice tried to try himself in all kinds of troupes, thanks to which he gained invaluable and comprehensive experience in choreography. In 1944 he made his debut with the Marseille opera troupe.Path to glory
The first ballet by Maurice Béjart was staged in Stockholm in 1951. Bejart's creativity made a splash. The maestro undertook an experiment to create a fundamentally new type of performance, where singing, dance and pantomime take an equal place. The brilliance experiment was a success. In his productions, Bejart used the vast spaces of entire sports arenas to accommodate the choir, orchestra, and dancers. The spectators also became full-fledged participants in all performances. All of Bejart's performances were accompanied by the signature, original outrage of the great master.
Of course, the contribution of Maurice Béjart to the development of dance and art in general can hardly be overestimated. He constantly strived for the most diverse use of all the plastic possibilities of the dancer's body. Bejart managed to organically transfer the traditions of ancient (and not only) shows and dances to our time, adding and developing the concept of a universal male dance.
The famous French choreographer Maurice Béjart, real name Maurice Berger was born on January 1, 1927 in Marseille, in the family of the philosopher Gaston Berger.
At the age of 14, on the advice of a doctor, he began to study ballet.
He received his professional choreographic education in private ballet studios in Paris, where his teachers were Lyubov Egorova, Leo Staats, Madame Ruzanne (Ruzanna Sargsyan), then he studied with Vera Volkova in London.
In 1946, Béjart received his BA in Philosophy from the University of Aix-en-Provence.
In 1946 he made his debut as a ballet dancer in Vichy (France). Has appeared with small ballet companies - Roland Petit, Jeanine Sharra, Kulberg Ballet (Sweden).
In 1950 he performed his first production for the Royal Swedish Ballet (Stockholm) - Igor Stravinsky's Firebird.
In 1953, Maurice Bejart, together with Jean Laurent, organized his own troupe "Romantic Ballets". In 1954 it became known as the Ballet "Stars", under this name it existed until 1957.
In the early opuses of Bejart, his trademark style was manifested - the choreographer does not use traditional ballet clothes, he professes minimalism in scenography, turns to current topics and contemporary music.
In the 1950s, Bejart staged ballets and at the same time starred in them. His troupe has staged ballets such as A Midsummer Night's Dream to music by Frederic Chopin, The Taming of the Shrew to music by Domenico Scarlatti, Beauty in a Boa to music by Giacomo Rossini, Journey to the Heart of a Child and The Mystery by Pierre Henri. "Tanit, or Twilight of the Gods", "Prometheus" Hovhan.
Bejart became famous for the ballets Symphony for a Lonely Man by Pierre Henri and Pierre Schaeffer (1955) and High Voltage by Marius Constant and Pierre Henri (1956).
In 1957-1960, Bejart worked with his new troupe Ballet Theater of Paris, for which he staged the ballets Alien to music by Heitor Vil Lobos, Pulcinella by Stravinsky (both - 1957), Orpheus by Henri (1958), Themes and variations "to jazz music (1959), etc.
In 1959 he created one of his most famous ballets, which have become classics of the 20th century, The Sacred Spring. The play was staged at the Theater Royal de La Monnaie (Brussels), with the participation of artists from three ballet companies - Bejart himself, Milorad Miskovich and the Teatro de La Monnais.
After the triumphant success of this production, Bejart was offered to work at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, where in 1960 the world-famous troupe with an international cast of the Twentieth Century Ballet was created. She toured a lot and was a welcome guest of the largest theaters and festivals in the world.
Among the most famous ballets created by Maurice Béjart for the Twentieth Century Ballet is Maurice Ravel's Bolero, in which both a woman (1961) and a man (1977) and a corps de ballet dance the solo part. Also, this production can be entirely male or female. The famous dancer Jorge Donne, the star of the 20th Century Ballet, performed with particular success in the solo part of Melody. In 1977, Maya Plisetskaya made her debut in the part of Melody in Brussels, who then repeated this performance in Moscow at her recital at the Bolshoi Theater (1978), the program of which also included the ballet Isadora, created specially for her, to combined music (the premiere took place in 1976 in Monte Carlo).
In 1978, the "Twentieth Century Ballet" toured Moscow with success. The leading dancers of the Bolshoi Ballet Company Maya Plisetskaya (Isadora), Ekaterina Maksimova (Romeo and Julia to the music of Hector Berlioz, partner Jorge Donne), Vladimir Vasiliev, who performed the title role in the ballet Petrushka, also took part in the tour. composed by Bejart for him in 1977. In 1987, the same tour of the troupe took place in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in cooperation with the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theater (now the Mariinsky Theater) and Vilnius (Lithuania).
For Plisetskaya, Bejart also staged the duet "Swan and Leda" to music by Camille Saint-Saens and Japanese folk music (1978), the ballet "Kurazuka" by Patrick Mimran, Toshiro Mayuzumi and Yuga Le Bars (1995), choreographic number "Ave, Maya!" to music by Johann Sebastian Bach - Charles Gounod (2000). Ekaterina Maksimova and Vladimir Vasiliev have repeatedly danced a duet from the ballet Romeo and Julia.
For the Ballet of the Twentieth Century, staged productions: The Ninth Symphony to music by Ludwig van Beethoven (1964), Webern - Opus V (1966), Bhakti to Indian folk music (1968), Songs of the Wandering Apprentice by Gustav Mahler (1971), "Nijinsky, the clown of God" to the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Pierre Henri (1972), "Our Faust" to the music of Bach (1975), "Dionysus" to the music of Richard Wagner and Mikis Theodorakis (1984), "Malraux, or Metamorphoses of the Gods "to the music of Beethoven and Le Bars (1986)," Kabuki "to the music of Toshiro Mayuzumi (1986) and many others.
In 1987, Béjart, together with the leading dancers, moved to Lausanne (Switzerland), where in the same year he organized a new troupe - the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, for which he staged the ballets "Memories of Leningrad" to the music of Tchaikovsky and the group The Residents ( 1987), "Trying to leave many times, I stayed" to music by Mahler (1988), "Ring around the ring" to music by Wagner and Cooper (1990), "Mr. Ch." to music by Charlie Chaplin (1992), Metamorphoses (Mutation X) to music by Jackie Gleason, John Zorn, Le Bars (1998), The Nutcracker to music by Tchaikovsky and Mute (1998), Brel and Barbara to music Bach and many others.
In 1970, in Brussels, he created the Mudra school, in 1977 - its branch in Dakar (Senegal), in 1992 - the Rudra studio school in Lausanne.
In 2002 he organized the Company M. troupe for young dancers of the Rudra school, for which he staged the ballet Mother Teresa and the Children of the World with the participation of the famous ballerina Marcia Heide.
In 2003, ten years after the death of the famous Italian director Federico Fellini, the choreographer dedicated the ballet Chao, Federico to him. Subsequent creations of the great maestro and his troupe were "Love and Dance" (2005), "Zarathustra", "Thank you, Gianni, with love", in memory of the famous couturier Gianni Versace, "Around the World in 80 Minutes" (2007).
In his latest production, Around the World in 80 Minutes, Bejart took Jules Verne's idea of a worldwide journey and expanded it with the itinerary of his latest tour with the troupe.
Bejart has received various awards. In 1986 he was awarded the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, in 1993 he received the Imperial Prize of the Japan Artistic Association. In 2003, the choreographer was awarded the Commander of the French Order of Merit for Art and Literature.
In 1994 he was elected a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts.
Bejart was awarded the International Benois Ballet Prize in the honorary Life in Art category.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources