“My Boléro,” commented Ravel, “had to stick in one’s head!” 

More seriously, he explained:
“In 1928, upon request by Madame Rubinstein (Ida Rubinstein, the famous Russian actress and dancer), I composed a Bolero for an orchestra. This is a dance with a very moderate and continuously even movement, both due to its melody and to its harmony and rhythm. The rhythm is continuously marked by the drum. The element of diversity is added by the orchestral crescendo.”

Maurice Béjart describes the creation of Ravel’s work in these terms: “Music that is too well-known and yet still fresh due to its simplicity. A melody (originally oriental and not Spanish) winds slowly around itself, increasing in volume and intensity, devouring the sound space and swallowing it up at the end of the melody.”

Without further describing a ballet that needs no introduction, let us simply point out that Maurice Béjart returns to the spirit of the Rite of Spring in a very different style. In this sense, unlike most artists who have illustrated Boléro choreographically before him, he spurns the easy choices of a picturesque exterior to simply – but so forcefully – express the essential.

List of soloists who have played the Boléro since its creation:

Female dancers
· Duska Sifnios (creator of the role)
· Tania Bari (Ballet du XXe Siècle)
· Suzanne Farrell (Ballet du XXe Siècle)
· Louba Dobrievic (Ballet du XXe Siècle)
· Anouchka Babkine (Ballet du XXe Siècle)
· Angèle Albrecht (Ballet du XXe Siècle)
· Shonach Mirk (Ballet du XXe Siècle)
· Grazia Galante (Ballet du XXe Siècle)
· Claude Bessy (creator at the Opéra de Paris)
· Jacqueline Rayet (Opéra de Paris)
· Marie-Claude Pietragalla (Opéra de Paris)
· Sylvie Guillem (Opéra de Paris)
· Florence Clerc (Opéra de Paris)
· Nicole Chouret (Opéra de Paris)
· Josiane Consoli (Opéra de Paris)
· Sabine Salle (Ballet du Rhin)
· Chantal Chazee (Ballet du Rhin)
· Marcia Haydée (Stuttgart)
· Haidrun Schwarz (Berlin)
· Brenda Edwards (Londres)
· Luciana Savignano (Scala de Milan)
· Carla Fracci (Arène de Véronne)
· Maïa Plissetkaïa (Bolchoï)
· Sylvie Demandols (Béjart Ballet Lausanne)
· Kathryn Bradney (Béjart Ballet Lausanne)
· Elisabeth Ros (Béjart Ballet Lausanne)

Male dancers
· Jorge Donn (creator of the male version)
· Patrick Dupond (Opéra de Paris)
· Jean-Pierre Franchetti (Opéra de Paris)
· Eric Vu-An (Opéra de Paris)
· Charles Jude (Opéra de Paris)
· Jean-Yves Lormeau (Opéra de Paris)
· Yvan Michaud (Munich)
· Richard Cragun (Stuttgart)
· Matz Skoog (Londres)
· Alexandro Molin (Londres)
· Octavio Stanley (Rudra Béjart Lausanne)