Ten years after its last presentation in Lausanne, Ballet for Life makes its grand return to the Théâtre de Beaulieu!
The Béjart Ballet Lausanne is happy to announce that tickets are now available for seven exceptional performances of Maurice Béjart‘s timeless ballet, from December 13 to 20, 2024.
This unique piece, created in 1996, blends the musical repertoire of Queen and Mozart, and features costumes by Gianni Versace. This is your chance to (re)discover a piece dedicated to youth, love and life, which transcends time and continues to captivate viewers all over the world.
“You told us to make love, not war. We made love. Why is love waging war on us?”
“Above all, my ballets are encounters: with music, with life, with death, with love… with all those, whose life and works find a renewal within me. Moreover, the dancer who I am no longer is reincarnated each time by the dancers who surpass this former self.
A love affair with the music by Queen. Invention, violence, humour, love: it’s all there. I love the group. They inspire me and guide me, sometimes through this no man’s land where we will all go one day and where, I am sure, Freddie Mercury is playing a duet on the piano with Mozart.
A ballet about youth and hope, as hopeless and optimistic as they are. Despite everything, I believe that “the show must go on”, as Queen put it in one of their songs.“
An ode to life with music by Queen and W. A. Mozart.
Ballet for Life has been an ongoing success since its premiere at the Métropole Theater in Lausanne on December 15, 1996, followed by its run in Paris at the Chaillot National Theater on January 17, 1997, with Sir Elton John and the band Queen on stage.
Inspired by the loss of two great figures – Freddie Mercury, the leader of Queen, and Jorge Donn, the company’s Argentinian dancer and soloist – this work is about youth and hope. The choreographer incorporates elements of both “the divine Mozart” and Queen, ending the piece with their iconic title: The Show Must Go On.
Costumes by Gianni Versace
Gianni Versace, Maurice Béjart‘s friend and favorite designer, created the costumes for Ballet for Life. Their collaboration, which began in 1984, led to the creation of costumes for ballets such as Dionysos, Malraux, Chéreau-Mishima-Perón and Pyramide. I love working with him because his enthusiasm and fervor are infectious,” explains the choreographer. As soon as we start working, he shows all the anxieties and fussiness of a beginner. So do I. It’s one of the secrets of our friendship. Ballet for Life was one of Gianni Versace’s last creations for the BBL, before his tragic death on July 15, 1997 in Miami.
Press review
“Béjart makes dance make us want to cry.”
Marie-Eve Barbier, La Provence (France), 2015
“Heaven for everyone, sang Queen. We’re not far from it with this ballet.”
Philippe Noisette, Les Echos (France), 2015
“It’s a long dance poem that becomes more and more powerful as the bodies touch and embrace each other in a wildly exhilarating energy.”
Isabelle Moreau, Ouest-France (France), 2015
