The Ninth Symphony

The Ninth Symphony

Choreography Maurice Béjart
Texts Friedrich Nietzsche, Friedrich von Schiller
Music Ludwig van Beethoven
Citypercussion - Thierry Hochstätter and jB Meier
Original set, light and costume Joëlle Roustand and Roger Bernard
Costume design Henri Davila
Lighting Dominique Roman

Notes by Maurice Béjart

This choreographic interpretation of Beethoven's masterpiece has no concept, goal or theme other than the music it encompasses, the music that nourishes it, and is in fact its unique "raison d'être".

The dancers simply follow the languid wanderings of the composer, meandering from dread to joy, from shadow to light.

In its refusal to stick closely to the score, this is not a ballet in the general sense of the term but a profound human participation in a masterpiece that belongs to the whole mankind, and is not only played and sung here, but is danced, as were the Greek tragedies of Antiquity and primitive religious rites.

The Ninth Symphony

Prologue

First Movement, Allegro ma non troppo

Photos: Kiyonori Hasegawa

Second Movement, Molto Vivace

Photos: Kiyonori Hasegawa

Third Movement, Adagio molto e cantabile

Photos: Kiyonori Hasegawa

Fourth Movement, Finale, Introduction and Ode to Joy

Photos: Philippe Pache