BEJART PREMIERE FIT FOR KINGS.

BEJART PREMIERE FIT FOR KINGS

L'ENFANT ROI 

CHATEAU DE VERSAILLES JUNE 10-18, 2000

LA LUMIERE DES EAUX

BASSIN DE NEPTUNE VERSAILLES, FRANCE JUNE 22-25, 2000

REVIEWED BY KARYN BAUER

"The King is Dead, Long Live the King!" shouted the dancers of the Bejart Ballet Lausanne as Maurice Bejart's latest creation, L'enfant roi (The Child King) began in Versailles's majestic Opera Royal. The show's production marked the first world premiere ever unveiled in this gilded seventeenth-century opera house, and was Bejart's vibrant homage to his lifelong love, Versailles, and its rich history.

Since his discovery of Versailles at the age of 20, Bejart, now 73, has remained passionate about the chateau and its three child kings, Louis XIII, Louis XIV and Louis XV, each of whom was dedicated to the arts. Louis XIII ascended the throne at the age of 9, and shortly thereafter had the construction of the magnificent main edifice begun. Crowned at the age of 5, Louis XIV ascended the throne under the regency of his mother, who appointed Jules Mazarin as prime minister to the king. Louis was an excellent dancer and established in 1661 what has since become France's National Academy of Dance. The king's successor, Louis XV, also crowned at age 5, built the chateau's theater.

Bejart's homage to these three young kings was pure child's play--colorful, lively and seductive. Three young boys alternately interpreted the central role of the king as the Ballet de Lausanne dancers circled around him, partaking in his youthful games of cards and hopscotch while teaching him the ways of the world. This celebration was punctuated by quotes from Moliere, Louis XIV's diaries and Mozart's letters, recited by Bejart's assistant, Gil Roman.

In the rich seventeenth-century setting of the Opera Royal, the dancers performed not only classical ballet steps, but engaged in theatrics, hip-hop (in the presence of the gold-clad king, who was the most outstanding example of this first collaboration with designer Donatella Versace and Milan-trained costumer Anna de Giorgi), and contemporary dance to music ranging from Mozart to modern-day techno house music. The costumes were equally eclectic, as the dancers stripped down from elegantly stitched eighteenth-century evening gowns and curly wigs to skin-tight satin body suits.

The king's temptresses performed breathtaking solos, Elisabet Ros as a hard-rock Madame de Montespan and Catherine Zuasnabar as a sultry and irresistible Madame de Maintenon confirming once again the strength of the Bejart dancers and the breadth of his choreography. The evening came to a touching close with an ode to another child prodigy, Mozart, a regular at Versailles who first played for the king at the age of 7.

Bejart's homage to Versailles continued on June 22 with a second world premiere, La Lumiere des Eaux, an outdoor extravaganza in the voluptuous Bassin de Neptune, one of Versailles's largest (153 yards by 53 yards) and most picturesque water landscapes. A large platform, installed in the center of this seventeenth-century fountain, gave the impression the dancers were walking on water.

The show began at dusk on a chilly June night. As night fell and the temperature plummeted, glimmering golden lights dotted the tree-lined walkways leading up to the chateau's right wing. The setting was sublime. Inspired by the grand wedding celebration organized by the king in 1671 for his brother, the Duke of Orleans, and his future wife, Princess Elisabeth Charlotte of Bavaria, this splendid evening of dance was a patchwork retrospective of excerpts from some of his greatest ballets.

With 120 dancers from both the Bejart Ballet Lausanne and Bejart's Rudra Ballet school, the eclectic choreography ranged from a beautiful solo by Gil Roman to Gustav Mahler's Adagietto, to a gleeful group performance to the modern voice of Elton John. In this way, according to Bejart, "spectators would find the same fantasia enjoyed by the king when he would combine Turkish ceremony, Spanish dancers and traditional theater by Moliere, all on the same evening."

The choreography was vibrantly energetic, allowing the shivering spectators--more than 8,500 per show--to slip into the reverie of Bejart's magnificent creativity, forgetting the chilling winds that howled through the gardens, which unfortunately prevented the fireworks display designed to accompany the show. The evening came to a close with a magnificent explosion of light and water, as the Bassin's ninety-nine fountains came spurting dramatically to life.