As part of Jaquet Droz partnership with the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, six performances were given at the Beaulieu Theatre from June 7 through 12. Four choreographies by four different artists. The performance began with Corps-circuit by Julio Arozarena, the BBL's ballet master who explores the dialog—visible or not—between bodies, like a scenic echo of philosopher Michel Foucault's words: "My body is like the City of the Sun. It has no place, but it is from it that all possible places, real or utopian, emerge and radiate." Next, Gil Roman gave Giorgio Madia—a former BBL dancer—carte blanche. The Italian choreographer interpreted Béjart's characteristic vitality in Swan Song, a newly created ballet that questions the notion of the master as teacher and guru.
Following the interval, BBL dancers performed Anima Blues, the "road ballet" created by Gil Roman at the Lausanne Opera in 2013. This work is way more than a ballet, blending blues tracks with the voice of Audrey Hepburn and compulsive rhythms from the Citypercussion collective. The evening's final treat was Boléro, Maurice Ravel's ballet that ranks among the greats of the 20th century—as Maurice Béjart imagined it.
