Maurice Béjart

Maurice Béjart (1927–2007) was a French-Swiss dancer and choreographer who founded the Ballet of the Twentieth Century and created influential modern ballets.

Boléro (ballet): Maurice Béjart’s 1961 ballet sets a solo dancer and ensemble to Maurice Ravel’s Boléro. Its accumulating choreography became one of Béjart’s signature works.
Ballet of the Twentieth Century: A Brussels-based ballet company founded by Maurice Béjart in 1960 and active until 1987. Béjart developed and toured many of his major works through this company.
Marcel Béjart: Marcel Béjart was a French philosopher and Maurice Béjart’s father. His father’s intellectual influence formed part of Béjart’s early cultural background.
Jorge Donn: Jorge Donn (1947–1992) was an Argentine dancer closely associated with Maurice Béjart’s choreography. Donn’s performances became central to Béjart’s company and major roles.
Modern dance: Modern dance is a broad tradition of concert dance that developed partly in opposition to classical ballet conventions. Béjart’s work belongs to a wider movement that expanded ballet’s movement and subject matter.
The Rite of Spring (Béjart ballet): Maurice Béjart’s 1959 ballet interprets Igor Stravinsky’s score through ritualized group movement. It established his striking approach to Stravinsky and collective ritual.
Béjart Ballet Lausanne: A Swiss ballet company founded by Maurice Béjart in Lausanne in 1987. It carried his company-building and choreographic work beyond Brussels.
Madame Rousanne: Madame Rousanne was a French ballet teacher who trained Maurice Béjart. Her instruction gave Béjart his early grounding in classical ballet.
Maya Plisetskaya: Maya Plisetskaya (1925–2015) was a Russian ballet dancer and longtime Bolshoi prima ballerina. Béjart created roles for Plisetskaya, connecting his work with a leading classical star.
Ballet: Ballet is a formal theatrical dance tradition with codified technique and a long history in Europe. Béjart reworked ballet’s inherited technique for modern music, themes, and audiences.

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