The Béjart Ballet Lausanne Returns to Teatro La Fenice: Twenty Years Later, Maurice Béjart’s Promise Lives On

 From January 13 to 17, 2027, the Béjart Ballet Lausanne will make its long-awaited return to Teatro La Fenice in Venice for the first time since 2005, as part of the anniversary seasons celebrating the 100th anniversary of Maurice Béjart’s birth and the company’s 40th anniversary. The company will present three major works from Maurice Béjart’s repertoire, enhanced by live orchestral accompaniment performed by the Orchestra of Teatro La Fenice a rare configuration that gives the event a truly unique dimension.

This return carries a powerful story. In 1996, when La Fenice burned down, the company was touring in Palermo. That evening, Maurice Béjart addressed the audience to announce the news and promised that when the theater reopened, dance would once again have its place on that stage. He kept his promise: in 2004, at the reopening of La Fenice, the Béjart Ballet Lausanne was among the very first companies to perform on the legendary reconstructed stage, presenting The Firebird  a symbol of rebirth above all others.

Twenty years later, the company returns once more.

The evening will open with Serait-ce la mort ?, created in 1970 to the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss. A man on the verge of death remembers three women he once loved, yet a fourth woman always intervenes unknown, mysterious. The title comes from the final line of the last Lied: “Ist dies etwa der Tod?” (“Could this perhaps be death?”). It is a work of haunting beauty, in which Béjart reaches the essential with rare simplicity.

The program will continue with The Firebird, set to the music of Igor Stravinsky. Here, the work resonates with particular strength: the Firebird, a figure of revolt and freedom, symbolizes what rises again from its ashes and in Venice more than anywhere else, the myth takes on its full meaning.

The evening will conclude with Boléro, set to the music of Maurice Ravel. A soloist, a red table, dancers, and a tension that builds inexorably toward its devastating finale. A universal masterpiece to close an extraordinary evening.

With the support of l’Occitan Group and

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*Beware of the grey ticketing market: Béjart Ballet Lausanne cannot be held responsible for any purchase of show tickets outside the official ticket offices mentioned on the website.