Suzanne Farrell and Maurice Bejart

[miliosr]

Has there ever been a scholarly or critical analysis, in book or journal form, regarding Suzanne Farrell's time with Maurice Bejart and his company? Perhaps in Europe??

[sandik]

Well, Croce wrote about Farrell's time with Bejart, and I'm pretty sure there was plenty of commentary/review writing at the time. I don't know that anyone's done a retrospective critical analysis, at least not in English...

[dirac]

I have not come across anything like that myself. I recall Croce's review of the company with Farrell, "Folies Bejart," but not a retrospective analysis of any length from her apart from what she said in her review of Farrell's autobiography. The period is certainly worth analysis, given that, as Croce observed, she was Bejart's prima ballerina for as long as she had been Balanchine's up to that time, and when she returned she was in many respects a different dancer. (Or, as William Weslow said in "I Remember Balanchine," "With Bejart, she had to wear makeup." ) It's hard to imagine Balanchine making "Tzigane" for the pre-Bejart Farrell.

[miliosr]

What prompted my asking the question was that I've been reading Arlene Croce's first collection of essays, After Images. Collected within it are two back-to-back reviews describing Suzanne Farrell's return to the New York City Ballet -- "Farrell and Farrellism" (02/03/75) and "Free and More Than Equal" (02/24/75). Croce relates how Farrell's dancing is much different (and much improved) from what it was in the 1960s before the break with George Balanchine.

But other than dismissing Maurice Bejart's repertory as, "an alien and diseased one," Croce shows no interest in discussing the reason(s) why Farrell's dancing changed so much in the space of about six years. She certainly isn't inclined to credit Bejart for even the slightest advancement in Farrell's dancing. Which is why I'm curious as to whether or not any European dance scholars have explored this aspect of Farrell's career, which dance critics in America have airbrushed out of the story since it doesn't fit comfortably into the "Elusive Muse" mythology.

[Helene]

From what I understand, except for an infamous review in which Croce refused to see but then commented on a Bill T. Jones piece, she didn't review what she didn't see, and she wouldn't have been in Europe to witness Farrell's development and transformation.

[dirac]

Croce wouldn't have had to see the Bejart troupe regularly in those years to reasonably conclude that Bejart had contributed in a positive way to the "new" Farrell. However, I don't think that any airbrushing was involved; my hunch is that Croce believed that any improvement in Farrell's artistry was largely due to Farrell's maturation and commitment and not to her having survived five years with Bejart. Croce's main complaint about Farrell's dancing just before she was fired from NYCB in '69 was that it was vulgar and overemphatic - exactly the kind of tendency that might be expected to be amplified after exposure to the Bejart aesthetic. Instead, Farrell seems to have absorbed the good from Bejart - international experience, a heightened theatrical projection, the ability to hold the stage without having much to dance - and avoided the obvious pitfalls. Farrell has been very generous about Bejart and rightly so, but it's hard to say that Bejart was the central force in making the dancer who came back to NYCB.

It should also be noted that Croce's opinions regarding the sharper distinctions between pre-Bejart Farrell and post-Bejart Farrell were not shared by other critics. And whatever Farrell gained in Brussels, she also lost irreplaceable years -- and so did NYCB.

It would be interesting to get a European perspective.

[kfw]

Croce's main complaint about Farrell's dancing just before she was fired from NYCB in '69 was that it was vulgar and overemphatic -

It should also be noted that Croce's opinions regarding the sharper distinctions between pre-Bejart Farrell and post-Bejart Farrell were not shared by other critics.

I want to reread Croce on Farrell now, but two questions come to mind - did Croce actually make those complaints before Farrell left for Europe, and did other critics share them? What an interesting topic - thank you, milosr.

[miliosr]

Farrell has been very generous about Bejart and rightly so

Yes, I've always admired how Farrell has remained loyal to Bejart (to the point where her company is one of the few places you can see Bejart's work performed in the United States.)

[sandik]

I keep thinking that Horst Koegler must have written about them, but a superfast search hasn't gotten me far. rg, do you have a suggestion?

[volcanohunter]

What about press reviews of Nijinsky, Clown of God from its New York tour?

[dirac]

Croce didn’t get the regular gig at The New Yorker until the early seventies, so anything she wrote about the pre-Bejart Farrell would be spread around in Ballet Review and elsewhere. Most of the material from that period, at least the material Croce wanted to put between hard covers, is collected in Afterimages. Miliosr has summarized the material pretty well. In the "Folies Bejart" review she also called Farrell "an unfinished dancer who needs to work."

Farrell has been very generous about Bejart and rightly so

Yes, I've always admired how Farrell has remained loyal to Bejart (to the point where her company is one of the few places you can see Bejart's work performed in the United States.)

I saw her company do the R&J pas de deux in Berkeley. I agree, I think it's great that she does what she can to show his work in this country. I'm sure if she had a bigger company with more resources she would do more.

[kfw]

Croce didn’t get the regular gig at The New Yorker until the early seventies, so anything she wrote about the pre-Bejart Farrell would be spread around in Ballet Review and elsewhere. Most of the material from that period, at least the material Croce wanted to put between hard covers, is collected in Afterimages. Miliosr has summarized the material pretty well. In the "Folies Bejart" review she also called Farrell "an unfinished dancer who needs to work."

Thanks. I've been browsing Afterimages.

[sandik]

Here are a few references from the NYPL Dance Collection

AS interview with Rolf Garske

Ballett international, v 6 no 9, September 1983

Interviews with SF and MB with John Gruen

Gruen, John The private worlds of ballet. New York 1975

SF interview with Bill Como

Dance magazine pt 1, Apr 1985, pt 2 May 1985, pt 3 June 1985

Profile by Olga Maynard

Dance magazine Jan 1979

Reviews of Ballet B in London

Dance and dancers June 1974, June 1977

Reviews of Ballet B in New York

Dance magazine Dec 1972

New York Times Oct 25, 1972

New York Times Jan 26, 1971

Dance news Mar 1971

Dancing Times Apr 1971

[miliosr]

I had the opportunity to buy a copy of The Essence of Bejart online. This is a 1972 photo book put out by Dance Magazine and contains photos of 15 Maurice Bejart works dating from 1959-1972. Captured in the photos are such names as Paolo Bortoluzzi, Michael Denard, Jorge Donn, Suzanne Farrell, Maina Gielgud, Paul Mejia, Rudolf Nureyev and Victor Ullate.

 

There are only photo captions and no descriptive text so this isn't a volume which dissects Bejart theater. But it does give a decent visual impression of what the company looked like in the early 70s. There also a few photos of stagings Bejart did at the Paris Opera Ballet. (in one such photo, Cyril Atanasoff looks strikingly like current premiere danseur Arthus Raveau.)

 

Suzanne Farrell is seen in photos from Romeo and Juliet, Messe Pour Le Temps Present and Nijinsky, Clown of God. She also appears in various casual photos, including a nice one with her then-husband, Paul Mejia.

 

Until someone does the dance equivalent of a catalgoue raisonne for Maurice Bejart, this will have to do.

Edited September 3, 2016 by miliosr

[miliosr]

I've been meaning to post Suzanne Farrell's audio remembrance of Maurice Bejart:

http://www.kennedy-center.org/video/index/74291

And the written version:

https://www.kennedy-center.org/sfb/pages/notesarch08#bejart