"Brel. Barbara"

Within the framework of the academic-socio-artistic program "Solitude-Presence", weekly cinema showings has begun with a film by Maurice Bejart "Brel. Barbara" (2006, 54 minutes). The group featured is the "Bejart Ballet Lаusanne" with costumes by Jean-Paul Knott.

The ballet "Brel and Barbara" is part of an hour-and-a-half spectacle of Maurice Bejart's "Light." The premier took place in 2001 in an ancient theatre in Lyon. The musical basis of the ballet is composed of songs by the French chanson Jacques Brel. This show is a tribute to the French chanson and the mute cinematographer, and is also the story of the friendship between Bejart and the singer, Barbara. As Bejart remembered, "during the course of 35 years, Barbara was my devoted friend, my sister, who talked to me about light". She considered herself 'the gleam of darkness' and light for her was Jacques Brel." The fantasy of Maurice Bejart unites the voices of Jacque Brel with the songs of his youth, and Barbara, his close friend. He shows them in a public, theatrical and in an intimate home atmosphere; they come to life on the stage, accompanied by photo and cinema renderings. The enigmatic Elizabeth Rose and artistic Gilles Roman (in the lead roles) in their black costumes remind the viewer of the images of Barbara and Brel, their songs rising up like certain kaleidoscopes of light of the human soul and the light of life.

Credits

Сover Image: ©Didier Philispart