Béjart Ballet: Julien Favreau confirmed as Artistic Director
Julien Favreau has been confirmed as Artistic Director of Béjart Ballet Lausanne (BBL). The Frenchman, who has danced with the company for 30 years, had been acting in this role since February.
This appointment “guarantees the perpetuation of Maurice Béjart’s artistic legacy”. It also “reinforces the extremely dynamic new impetus the company has been experiencing” since Julien Favreau took over as artistic director, announced the BBL in a press release on Friday.
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The Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Julien Favreau. Born in La Rochelle in 1977, the Frenchman trained in classical and contemporary dance before joining the Rudra Béjart School in Lausanne in 1994.
Quickly spotted by Maurice Béjart, he joined the ballet a year later, subsequently taking on a series of important roles. After Maurice Béjart’s death, and under the artistic direction of Gil Roman from 2007 onwards, he continued to take on solo roles and participated in various creations.
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Last February, he took over artistic direction ad interim after Gil Roman’s dismissal. The latter, on probation after an audit had revealed his sometimes abusive and angry behavior, had committed “l’écart de trop” in January at the Opéra Garnier in Paris.
The former Artistic Director of the BBL, who was invited to the performance and then to the private aperitif with the troupe, was dismissed in 2021 for attitudes and comments amounting to sexual harassment.
Adapted from French with DeepL/amva
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