Ballet is poetry in motion, a perfectly choreographed and sculpted art form, but perfecting it demands pain, patience and perseverance, as spending time with dancers at the famous Béjart Ballet company reveals.
This content was published on
Dahai studied Chinese Language and Literature in China and Computer Network Technology after moving to Switzerland. He trained as a journalist, acquired and developed knowledge about media, photographic techniques, computer programming etc. He participated in the establishment of the Chinese Department of swissinfo.ch in 2001 and has served swissinfo.ch since then.
Born in England, I've lived in Switzerland since 1994. I trained as a graphic designer in Zurich between 1997 – 2002. More recently I have moved on to work as photo editor and joined the team at swissinfo.ch in March 2017.
At a rehearsal for “The Magic Flute”, dancers practiced contortions, balancing and muscle-wrenching movements, which all took a toll on their feet by the end of the day. After seeing the pain the dancers go through for their art, it’s hard to watch a ballet again in the same light.
Béjart Ballet was founded in Lausanne in 1987 and has an international reputation. When renowned choreographer Maurice Béjart passed away in 2007, there were fears that his company would not survive. Those fears were unfounded. The Béjart remains in high demand, under the guidance of artistic director Gil Roman. Some 124 people work for the company, including 44 dancers from 19 countries.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Swiss girl shines in prestigious ballet competition
This content was published on
Besides the scholarship, she was also joint winner of the Contemporary Dance Prize in addition to the Best Swiss Finalist award. Fernandez-Gromova has been practising ballet since the age of six, and has studied at the Zurich Dance Academy and the St Petersburg-based Vaganova Ballet Academy. Her father is from Spain and her mother is…
This content was published on
Béjart, 80, famous for his innovative and sometimes controversial ballets, had been in and out of hospital in recent months, suffering from exhaustion as well as kidney and heart problems. He died early Thursday morning at Lausanne’s University Hospital, said Emmanuel de Bourgknecht, administrator of the Béjart Ballet. “The master has disappeared physically but his…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.