Béjart Ballet Lausanne's programs make Shanghai debut

Béjart Ballet Lausanne is bringing the two works "Tous les hommes presque toujours s'imaginent" and "7 Danses Grecques" to Shanghai for the China Shanghai International Arts Festival.

Both programs are meeting Shanghai audience for the first time, though the Swiss ballet company has already paid at least four visits to the city for the festival.

"We are happy to be back after so many years apart," said choreographer Gil Roman. "Despite the multi-time visits, we have been bringing with us new programs to show Shanghai audience. We love communicating with audience with dance, a universal language. We also look forward to your feedbacks."

Based in the city of Lausanne, the Béjart Ballet Lausanne was founded in 1987 by Maurice Béjart. Since his disappearance in 2007, dancer and choreographer Roman became the artistic director.

"Tous les hommes presque toujours s'imaginent" is Roman's creation, while "7 Danses Grecques" was created by Béjart and premiered in 1983.

In "Tous les hommes presque toujours s'imaginent," the male protagonist can be considered the incarnation of Roman. In the solo dance, audience spot the excitement of a choreographer when he finds inspiration, as well as the frustration when he encounters a bottleneck. There is joy and sorrow and constant change in one man's life.

"7 Danses Grecques" used nine music pieces by contemporary Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. Drawing on traditional Greek dance steps, it's presented in a cheerful and interesting contemporary way.

"The two programs stand for the troupe's past and present," said Roman. "Our works are based on classical ballet, and the dancers train in classical ballet too. But when it comes to stage presentation, we use innovative expressions and add new elements like Jazz to suit modern audience."

Performance info:

Dates: October 19-21, 7:30pm

Tickets: 280-1,280 yuan

Venue: Shanghai Culture Square 上海文化广场

Address: 597 Fuxing Rd M. 复兴中路597号