Bejart

[Alexandra]

Jack Reed -- hi, Jack! -- made some interesting comments on Bejart (on the Gottlieb on the French thread, on Books Magazines, and Critics; forgive the repetitive "ons"!) and I thought perhaps M. Bejart should have his own thread.

There was a film about Bejart here a few weeks ago at the Swiss Embassy -- I couldn't go, but a friend of mine who loves Bejart (as well as Ashton and Balanchine ) said, with a sigh, "I miss Bejart. There's no one as sensuous as he is these days."

Comments? What do people think about Bejart -- what have you seen?

[Hans]

I don't love his work, but I don't hate it, either. I definitely enjoy his sense of theatricality and his way of combining many theatrical elements (speaking, singing--his dancers are trained in those and more) into his works. If nothing else, his creations are always interesting. I have seen his "L'Oiseau de Feu," "Bolero," "Sept Danses Grecques," several ballets I can't recall the names of, and what when I saw it was referred to as his "Création Mondiale." I was a supernumerary in a couple of those. I find his choreography uncluttered and often interesting, but often I feel that he doesn't develop his point very well--he starts out with good ideas, and he uses them fairly well, but his works leave me--not cold exactly, but more like tepid--at the end of the evening. The dances don't come to much of a climax, and even when they do, I find that the material leading up to it lacks focus. I guess what I'm trying to say is that he has good, interesting ideas, but he digresses too much and too often IMO.

About "Le Sacre du Printemps," I learned part of it, and although I didn't like to do it or watch it, it is a very good piece of choreography. It's focused.

[jose manuel]

hi

I think Bejart is one of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century.

I am very surprised only one person has replied to this topic.

maybe people just love or hate bejart. I dont know or probablt there´s a cultural divide here, not only usa/europe but inside europe, I see in this case an anglo-saxon/latin divide

the magazine Ballet 2000 had a fantastic issue in which many famous ballet critics chose the most important ballet personalities/movements of the 20th century

the french,italian and swiss critics chose bejart in their top 3 choices,whereas the anglo-saxon critics never mentioned bejart.

I remember a review of bejart by a famous english critic, well more than a review it was a scathing attack on bejart. at the end of his review he admitted that he hated bejart. it was a very "visceral" review. I was left with the impression that bejart creates great passions,love or hate.

I think one of the problems with bejart is that he has a vision of "total theatre", therefore his ballets are more than ballets. there is theatre,there is politics in his productions, and many people dont like this

he is very ambitious and very brave in his productions. he has dealth with political,religion,social issues. he has experimented with different kind of musics, cultures... I dont know or any other present choreographer that has dealt with such a different range in his choreographies.

of course when someone tries to do a global dance production,there´s bound to be mistakes or failures. for example I remember his ballet Souvenir de Leningrad. in this ballet he tries to convey the russian soul,the city of Leningrad,Petipa,Tchaikovsky,Lenin..... no less!

but I admire him for his honesty, braveness and innovative spirit. he´s forever creating new things in his particular choreohraphic universe.

some of his ballets, Le Sacre du Printemps, Bolero, L´Oiseau de Feu,etc are already classics of the 20th century ballet.

he is also very consciously influenced by the political movements of the 1950s,1960s and 1970s, specially from the revolution of may 1968 and basically in his ballets you can see the ideas of the french revolution: liberté,fraternité,egalité

now unfortunately we live in a different political climate, therefore bejart´s ideas and ballets look, I´m afraid, old-fashioned or naïve

I also love Bejart because he is such an open creator, not only because of his social ideas for ballet, but because he has allowed the cameras to record his ballets, there are so many documentaries,interviews available about him. I wish all the other choreographers were as open as him.

apart from his big,spectacular ballets, I like very much his abstract works. he is such a wonderful creator in the pas de deux. he has had a very big influence on many present choreographers.

only my opinion

jose manuel

[Ari]

maybe people just love or hate bejart. I dont know or probablt there´s a cultural divide here, not only  usa/europe but inside europe, I see in this case an anglo-saxon/latin divide

I think that's true, Jose Manuel. I've noticed it, too. It stems, I think, from the fact that countries with an Anglo-Saxon heritage have different literary, theatrical, and balletic traditions than those in continental Europe. Bejart's approach to ballet theater -- it needs to be called that and not just ballet, as you have said -- is foreign to me and I don't like it, but I can understand why Europeans take to it. And your point about his politics being dated is well taken, too.

What does concern me, though, is that Bejart's choreography is accepted by some people as classical ballet, which it isn't. It is more like modern dance with balletic embellishments. In countries that have established classical companies, like France, people may appreciate the difference, but I'm afraid that those without a similar frame of reference may look at Bejart and think that that's what classical ballet is.

[jose manuel]

very interesting message, Ari

only I disagree in one thing. in Bejart´s ballets there is classical ballet and of the highest quality.

the problem is that in his works there is a conglomerate of things (dance,theatre,speech) but if one looks deeper or digs inside ,one will find a gem of classical ballet in all his production (specially extraordinary pas de deux)

you can see that in notre faust,arepo,ce que lámour me dit, bach sonata (you can see it in the natalia makarova commercial videotape),life,etc

as he said in one of his interviews, one of his objectives is to innovate and search in the art of the pas de deux (actually he presented years ago a production called "the art of the pas de deux" which is a collections of pas de deux from many ballets of him.

I recently have seen a pas de deux by bejart set to the extraordinary lied by Mahler "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen". it is breathtakingly beautiful.

Bejart´s neo-classicism has influenced IMO many present day choreographers, among them the great John Neumeier.

jose manuel

[Alexandra]

There's a great divide on Mr. Neumeier too, Jose Manuel (The pro-Neumeier stance is that he makes such great theater; the anti-Neumeier stance is that he uses an extremely limited vocabulary repetively and that the works don't stand up as choreography.)

I've seen pieces by Bejart that I consider classical ballet -- "Songs of a Wayfarer," which was choreographed for Nureyev and I saw it several times. It was on the first program of ballet I ever saw, and it was the last thing I saw Nureyev do, and so I have great affection for it, but I also think it's a good work. I never saw his grand theatrical extravaganzas and always was curious about them. (The ones with the motorcycles and angels and dancers swinging onto the stage, the ones he made to be shown in football stadiums.) I imagine they are, as you said, a mix of many things.

I rate Bejart higher than his imitators; I think there's a strong craft there. I'm not a fan of reworking other ballets, so for me, his "Firebird" and "Gaite Parisienne" aren't very interesting, but I don't think they're bad. When I see Eifman, I think nostagically of Bejart

[this post was edited to correct an error, which jose manuel kindly corrected in a post below]

Edited September 14, 2004 by Alexandra

[jose manuel]

hi alexandra

I like this civilised ballet discussion

maybe I am wrong,but we are talking about two different bejart-mahler works here.as far as I know Songs of a Wayfarer is a male duo ,whereas I was referring to a man/woman pas de deux, well actually a kind of trio,because you can see in this ballet on the stage Jorge Donn (Bejart´s muse) dressed as Mahler in aq mime role.

I am definitely very pro-Neumeier. a choreographic genius

jose manuel

ps you should see Bejart´s Le Presbytere or Life (his Mozart/queen) ballet. full of tricks but also full of beauty.

jose manuel

[Alexandra]

Yes, civilized discussions can be fun! I'm sure you're right about the work discussed -- I saw "Mahler" and "lied" and didn't read carefully. Thank you! I'll edit my post so as to avoid confusing people.

Now, I wouldn't think I would have liked Mr. Bejart's Mother Theresa ballet, but I would be curious to see some of the others.

I must say I'm glad to have this discussion. There are many choreographers who do not often figure on these boards: Bejart, Grigorovitch, Neumeier. Just because there aren't a lot of threads about them doesn't mean that they're off-topic!

[Farrell Fan]

Is it too simple-minded to say that Balanchine's dictum that "Ballet is woman," was contradicted by much of Bejart's choreography? But he did great things for Suzanne Farrell.

[jose manuel]

yes, I remember Suzanne Farrell crying of emotion when she meets again Bejart many years later in the wonderful biographical documentary about her.

ps I adore Suzanne Farrell

jose manuel

[Lovebird]

I am not an expert, so I shall just give my opinion. I have seen (on videos) works by Maurice Bejart, and for the most part I dislike his work. It is too acrobatic, too reliant on high extensions, too over the top, glitzy and with too little real emotion or content. I also agree that some of his works are not ballet but theatre with a bit of modern dance. In England he is highly disliked because the british temperament, and consequently, the british way of dancing is based on moderation and serenity. If you see an Ashton ballet it gives you comfort, happiness, peacefulness, whereas in a Bejart ballet everything feels edgy, exaggerated, full of turmoil. I know that in France, Spain, Italy he is admired but it is probably because of different national characters. In France's theatrical tradition it is okay to throw tantrums or scream or beat the stage with one's fists, but in England that behaviour is looked down upon and seen as uncivilized. That is also why Neumeier, Ek, Duato et. al are also disliked in the U.K. These type of choreographers will never jell with the style of the Royal, or what was the style of the Royal.

[Estelle]

Béjart is very well-known in France, and some of his works attracted a new audience to ballet in the 1960s and 1970s (my mother still remembers with emotion some performances with Jorge Donn she saw around 1970 in Paris...), also he worked with several generations of Paris Opera Ballet dancers (but it was complicated because he was angry with the company's direction for several periods...) His works still fill big theaters, however he often receives mixed reviews (some critics who are interested only in modern dance find his works "too classical", while some others liked his early works but find his more recent ones a bit too narcissistic and with a bit too many texts, videos, etc. and not much interesting dance).

The last Béjart program I saw was at the POB two seasons ago, I had enjoyed his "Firebird" (even though some parts of it looked a bit dated, and also Karl Paquette is no Michael Denard), while his creation for Manuel Legris was one of the most boring and empty works I've ever seen (even Legris couldn't save it), and his "Mandarin merveilleux" looked a bit too morbid and dark to me.

[jose manuel]

I am not an expert, so I shall just give my opinion. I have seen (on videos) works by Maurice Bejart, and for the most part I dislike his work. It is too acrobatic, too reliant on high extensions, too over the top, glitzy and with too little real emotion or content. I also agree that some of his works are not ballet but theatre with a bit of modern dance. In England he is highly disliked because the british temperament, and consequently, the british way of dancing is based on moderation and serenity. If you see an Ashton ballet it gives you comfort, happiness, peacefulness, whereas in a Bejart ballet everything feels edgy, exaggerated, full of turmoil. I know that in France, Spain, Italy he is admired but it is probably because of different national characters. In France's theatrical tradition it is okay to throw tantrums or scream or beat the stage with one's fists, but in England that behaviour is looked down upon and seen as uncivilized. That is also why Neumeier, Ek, Duato et. al are also disliked in the U.K. These type of choreographers will never jell with the style of the Royal, or what was the style of the Royal.

well, I didnt see a lot of moderation and serenity in the british pro-hunt demonstrators today :rolleyes:

what I mean to say is that I dont believe about these clichés about national characters. maybe because I am the least nationalist person in the world. I am an internationalist. I think that through culture we can get over these nationalist cliches.

I am lucky I like choreographers from all over the world, from balanchine and robbins to neumeier,eifman. from ashton to kylian and duato.

to sday for example,as I am Spanish, I dont watch Balanchine, because my spanish temperament is different from the american temperament is very absurd to me.

I try to see and enjoy all works from choreographers,well at least to give them two opportunities. of course sometimes you are horrified by what you see (Mats Ek),but I think it is wise not to close the door too soon, to give a second opportunity.

this is only my opinion. there´s no intention to hurt anyone´s feelings

finally, both bejart and neumeier have a monumental production. even if people dont like some specific production,this doesnt mean all their works are bad. on the contrary,there are many gems in their productions

jose manuel

[Alymer]

"That is also why Neumeier, Ek, Duato et. al are also disliked in the U.K. These type of choreographers will never jell with the style of the Royal, or what was the style of the Royal."

To be fair, very little of Neumier's work has been seen in the UK. He did an early piece for Scottish Ballet many, many years ago plus one work for the Royal Ballet. Wayne Sleep who had a leading role in that piece describes in his autobiography the enormous difficulties under which he (Neumier) was obliged to work (minimal rehearsal time, etc) and the piece was barely completed at the premiere. The Paris Opera brought Midsummer Night's Dream, and there was a pas de deux made for Darcy Bussell. So I honestly think that the UK audience can hardly be said the have a genuine opinion about Neumier's work.

Bejart does have fans in England, although certainly most of the critics loathe his work. I too saw the programme Estelle describes and thought it pretty dreary. The Mother Teresa work was truly awful - but, there are other pieces that I've really enjoyed over the years, and which I don't think you could describe as anything other than classical dance.

[Lovebird]

Jose Manuel, you have a good point when you say that culture is international, that one should be open minded, but I disagree. As a ballet student I think that the distinct flavors of the French, Russian, Danish and English style of dancing should not be lost. These styles are not cliche's, they are the DNA, if you like, of their respective companies. If being international is throwing everything into a blender and making it into one big boring mass, then I am against it. Yes, I have seen Neumeier, Bejart, not Mats Ek because I would not waste money seeing something that I know I'll dislike and I agree that one should give all choreographers repeated viewings. I have seen a couple of pas de deux's and Nijinsky, Clown of God by Bejart and also one with an all male corps of dancers and I have also read an interview of his. His ideals would be much better suited to modern dance than ballet, not to mention his disregard for the women dancer.