Maurice Bejart made his debut as a dancer and later as a choreographer in Paris. After meeting Igor Stravinsky, in 1959, Bejart choreographed his "Rite of Spring" for Maurice Huisman, the new director of Theater Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels....
[more]Maurice Bejart made his debut as a dancer and later as a choreographer in Paris. After meeting Igor Stravinsky, in 1959, Bejart choreographed his "Rite of Spring" for Maurice Huisman, the new director of Theater Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. This project paved the way for his own company, the Ballet du XXe Siecle, formed in Brussels in 1960 in Brussels, Belgium, and later relocating to Lausanne, Switzerland and renamed Bejart Ballet Lausanne.
His most famous work to this day is Ravel's "Bolero" (1961). Bejart has choreographed to a multitude of different music from Wagner to Boulez. Bejart founded the Mudra School in Brussels in 1970, and then in Dakar seven years later.
In addition to directing plays, operas and films, Bejart also wrote a novel, a personal diary and a play. In 1986 he was granted the Order of the Rising Sun from the Emperor Hirohito of Japan, and was named Great Officer of the Order fo the Crown by King Baudouin of Belguim (1988). He received numerous other awards in his lifetime, including the Kyoto Prize (1999) and the Peace Foundation award by the Pope Jean-Paul II (1995). He received the insignia of Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres from the Ambassador of France to Switzerland.
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