How Maurice Béjart transformed classical ballet into a global, flamboyant, and controversial spectacle

Art · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Born Maurice-Jean Berger, this French choreographer shattered the boundaries of traditional dance. By fusing classical ballet with jazz, acrobatics, and electronic music, he created a signature style that was as theatrical as it was provocative. From Brussels to Lausanne, his work redefined the twentieth-century stage for international audiences.

Maurice Béjart, born in Marseille in 1927, emerged as a transformative figure in dance by rejecting the rigid confines of classical ballet. After early training in Paris, he founded Les Ballets de l’Étoile in 1954 and later the Ballet du XXe Siècle in Brussels in 1960. His approach was defined by a bold, flamboyant theatricality that integrated diverse influences, including electronic musique concrète and jazz. His 1960 choreography of Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps cemented his reputation, leading to a career that spanned opera direction and the creation of iconic works like Bolero.

Béjart’s work was frequently marked by an unusual and sometimes controversial aesthetic. His 2000 production of The Nutcracker, for instance, completely discarded the original plot in favor of a narrative exploring a boy’s psychological journey and sexual fantasies, featuring imagery that some found shocking. Despite such provocations, his influence was immense. He established dance schools, such as the Mudra Afrique School in Dakar, and his company became one of the world's most prominent, eventually relocating to Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1987 as the Béjart Ballet Lausanne.

Throughout his life, Béjart received numerous accolades, including the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun and the Praemium Imperiale prize. His legacy is one of constant reinvention, from his early masterwork Symphonie pour un homme seul to his late-career explorations of identity and myth. By the time of his death in 2007 at age 80, he had been posthumously granted Swiss citizenship, leaving behind a body of work that challenged audiences to see dance not just as movement, but as a vehicle for vast, complex human themes.

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