Béjart, the vision of dance

Among the fathers of modern ballet of the twentieth century, a demiurge artist, spokesperson for a vision of multicultural dance, never separated from the other arts, Maurice Béjart, who passed away in Lausanne in 2007, left more than one iconic masterpiece to history. His repertoire is currently guarded by Julien Favrien, a magnetic dancer who grew up with the master, now artistic director of the Béjart Ballet Lausanne. Another key name in the history of the company dances in it, Elisabet Ros, also assistant to the artistic director. She is accompanied by more than one generation of performers, many of whom are young. The company, which will be in Italy between April and May, with stops at the Nuovo in Udine, the Comunale in Ferrara and that of Modena, with the tour closing at the Regio in Parma, opened the 2025 dance season at the Lac in Lugano with three very crowded performances in two days. It is the destiny of all groups that have had a great author at their head (see Martha Graham or Pina Bausch) to ask themselves how not to let a repertoire that has meant so much and can still mean so much die, while simultaneously encouraging new performers (who in many cases have never worked with the maestro in question) to enrich the company's relevance with pieces by other authors.

THE PROGRAM presented at the Lac by the Béjart Ballet Lausanne is emblematic in this regard. The first piece on the poster is by Dutch choreographer Joost Vrouenraets: Bye Bye baby blackbird on songs by Johnny Cash. A collective choreography, it questions the author's intentions on darkness and impermanence, with bodies that, one song after another, introject into movement the uneasiness of a possible absence. The choreographic language, broken in the joints and full of impulses, has a Marco Goecke-like stamp. It does not have the effectiveness and synthesis of the German author's dramatic scratch, but it shows the compactness of the large and young cast involved. The program continues with a medley entitled Béjart et nous . Curated by Julien Favreau, it strings together extracts from Béjart's repertoire. Among the pieces chosen is the neoclassical at the top (not particularly brilliant in the interpretation) Concerto en re pour violon, 4ème mouvement, on music by Stravinsky, followed by the more pregnant piece from Héliogabale danced by Emma Foucher and Antoine Le Moal. The Japanese Konosuke Takeoka is convincing in the playful and virtuosic Trish Trash and there is interpretative commitment in Faust, a male pas de deux with the Italians Alessandro Cavallo and Angelo Perfido.

OF THE MEDLEY , however, the two pieces on Jacques Brel remain in the eye: Ne me quitte pas with Elisabet Ros and Quand on n'à que l'amour with Mari Ohashi and Kwinten Guilliams. Ros instantly brings back to the stage the interpretative depth that was from the golden age of Béjart. But also the young Mari Ohashi is appreciated, protagonist, also for a repeat, of the main role of the key piece of the LAC program, the reprise of Boléro . Yes, always and again Boléro, with its large round table and that unstoppable rush of sensuality and seduction that Ohashi embodies with solitary, strongly charismatic voluptuousness. And this is the piece that makes the difference. The feeling is that, rather than seeing stews, it is worth seeing again on stage in their entirety the great titles of Béjart that are not necessarily so well known to the younger generations of spectators: with Boléro, the magnificent Ninth, the Sacre du Printemps, Firebird (The Firebird) are just a few examples. The latter will be a hit of the Italian tour.