Maurice Béjart lived in Brussels for nearly 30 years. One year after his death, in 2008, a Foundation was created in Brussels at Rue de la Fourche, where the choreographer had lived, just a stone’s throw from the Grand-Place. As an archive and exhibition centre, the Maurice Béjart House has recently been recognised as a “Museum under construction” by the Federation Wallonia-Brussels, enabling it to open its doors to the public on a permanent basis.
PARCOURS LIBRE EXHIBITION
Currently, of the 370 works by Maurice Béjart, the Maurice Béjart House already owns a number of items relating to over 250 ballets. The permanent exhibition entitled Béjart Parcours Libre gives visitors the opportunity to discover this significant venue where the choreographer lived, as well as a selection of documents from some of his ballets. (Programmes, posters, manuscripts, original drawings, photographs, videos etc.).
NEW TOPICS
From July 2014, this permanent exhibition will be enriched with new exhibition items. Visitors can discover “Béjart, the early years”, illustrating his early life (1927-1957), displaying among other items original documents relating to Symphonie pour un homme seul, La belle au boa, Voilà l’homme, etc. Other periods of his work are also investigated, including Bhakti (1968), Le Molière Imaginaire” (1976), Acqua Alta (1976), the Mudra (1970) and Rudra (1992) schools, or La Neuvième symphonie (1964), as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of its creation.
THE BEJART HOUSE STUDIO
The Béjart House Studio, located on the first floor of the Béjart House, which was used in the 1960s to rehearse some of the choreographer’s most important works, has been given a new breath of life. This historic space, abandoned for over 40 years, is now home to an independent dance school which offers preparatory training in high-level classical dance for young people aged 7 to 18.
THE FUTURE
Other exhibitions, including a special Béjart-Nureyev exhibition, will open in the autumn of 2014, as well as a cinematographic cycle entitled Béjart et l’images (Béjart and images). For seven years, the Béjart House has been adding new items to its archives and pursuing its objective to become a recognised museum on the Belgian arts scene, open to the public, and to the world.