Symphony for a lonely man, The Ninth Symphony ballets by Maurice Béjart: Nietzsche vs Sartre

Abstract

The article highlights the topic of multicultural trends in the work of the choreographer Maurice Béjart. In the center of the study is his hero, who was transformed in accordance with his philosophy, stylistic and musical preferences. The story of the creative tandem of Béjart and the composer of specific music Pierre Henri runs through the article in the development of their creative interaction, the thematic vectors of the choreographer, which he strove to at various periods of his biography. The analysis focuses on the opposition of two Béjart’s heroes: a lonely man from the ballet to the music of Pierre Henri and the Nietzschean «superhuman», from the ballet Ninth Symphony to the music of Beethoven. Through this opposition, the author concludes that they can be presented as private and public, and the contradictory and multifaceted nature of Béjart’s work becomes a manifestation of will of the individual.