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ECOLE-ATELIER RUDRA BEJART
While silent film star Douglas Fairbanks, as a masked avenger, rattles the audience by jumping from the balcony on the back of his running horse, and a certain Charles Chaplin, transgressing the most common conventions of society, elicits uncontrolled laughter from the spectators, here is the latest arrival, Rudolph Valentino, unleashing an entirely new phenomenon for the nascent Hollywood film world: collective hysteria!
Women shout the star's name as they wait for him outside the studios and, to see him even for a few moments, sleep on the sidewalk in front of his house. Men, divided into opposing factions, openly from one side or the other, insult each other on the street, in restaurants, in workplaces. Jealous husbands accuse him of not being a real man and spin sordid rumors of immoral stories...
The world of silent films knows only one name: Rudolph Valentino, the Latin lover!
The press reserves articles for him every day and, in the wake of readers' manic enthusiasm, begins to publishing stories exclusively devoted to Hollywood gossip. Scandal tabloids are born!
When he died of septicemia in 1926, Valentine was only 31 years old.
Dozens of fans take their own lives, throwing themselves out of windows or throwing themselves under cars. Huge crowds ransack the chapel where his remains are displayed, smashing glass, doors and windows.
There is no woman of the 1920s who has not dreamed of being taken and kissed by that man's lips on which the reflection of the moon seems to shine, or of being kidnapped, in spite of herself, from such a handsome desert knight. Rodolfo Valentino is definitely the one who, on the silver screen, invented the art of desire!
Thirty years after his death, a journalist tries to find out who is hiding behind the black veil of the widow who comes every year to place a red rose on Valentine's grave. Who is this woman? What was her connection to Hollywood's last silent film star? Does her anonymity conceal some secret?
This is the investigation in which choreographer Valérie Lacaze engages and guides the audience. An original creation in three acts, My french Valentino brings to the stage the young dancers of Lausanne's École-Atelier Rudra Bejart, founded in 1992 from Maurice Bejart and directed today from Michel Gascard. An Invitation to traces the dazzling existence of Italian legend Rodolfo Valentino, from his early years as a dancer in prewar Paris, under the innovative charms of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, to his departure to the American dream, through the account of the extraordinary encounters with which his life as an actor was studded to New York and to Hollywood.
Anne Vadagnin´s original music, in a brilliant mix with those of the 1920s and songs of the 20th and 21st centuries, creates surprising scene changes, while the show´s choreography, inspired to historical facts and richly documented, brings to life the golden years of the_ Belle Epoque_ and the Roaring Twenties, for an atmosphere full of emotion and humor.
Independent choreographer Valérie Lacaze returns to to work with the Ecole-Atelier Rudra Béjart, following the success of Camille Claudel la mariée de l´oubli in 2012 and Qualia ou la vie d´artiste in 2013, productions that attracted audiences of 50,000 worldwide. The show features the special participation of several Rudra Bejart teachers, including that of its artistic director Michel Gascard.
staging, direction and choreography** Valérie Lacaze **
original music Anne Vadagnin
With the dancers and teachers of the **Ecole-Atelier Rudra Béjart **in Lausanne
artistic direction Michel Gascard
other music Mily Balakirev, Maurice Ravel, traditional Russian music, Astor Piazzolla, Ravi Shankar, Charles Chaplin, The Bix Beiderbecke Story, Sigmund Romberg, Nino Rota, Claude Luter
songs Claude Nougaro, Jean Jacques Goldman, Ray Ventura et ses Collégiens, Tino Rossi, The Golden Gate Quartet, Jacques Prévert & Jeanne Moreau, Lucienne Delyle
costumes Valérie Lacaze, Caroline Zanetti
world copyright **www.ssa.ch (Société Suisse des Auteurs) **
ACT 1
The young woman of the 1950s
dancer Lana_ _
Russian Ballets to Paris
music **Mily Balakirev **
&** traditional Russian music**
Dancers Sayaka, India, Emma, Ilgim, Isabella, Anastasiia, Heesoo, Marie, Yuni, Katalin, Julia, Noa, Ylian, Léandre, Eliot, Nik, Quentin, Tilman, Rayan, Théo, Leonardo Celian
Diaghilev Michel Gascard
Teacher Vladimir Liakine
Rudolph** Pierre-Antoine**
Maurice Ravel Erwan
Pianist Anne Vadagnin
Nijinsky
music Anne Vadagnin
dancer Ylian
_Tabor _
music **traditional Russian music **
Dancers Erwan, Noa, Rayan, Eliot, Théo, Ylian, Pierre Antoine
Ravel
music Maurice Ravel
dancers Emma, Julie, Anastasiia, Micol, Athanasia, Marie, Katlin, Yuni, Isabella, India, Sayaka, Giulia, Mina, Ilgim, Celian, Nik, Léandre, Quentin, Leonardo, Eliot, Rayan, Ylian, Erwan, Tilman, Noa, Théo
Maurice Ravel Erwan
The Parisian Lover
music** Jean-Jacques Goldman **
dancers Pierre Antoine, Celian
The streets of Paris
music **Ray Ventura**
choral singing arrangement by Svetlana Bally
dancers** all**
ACT 2
Tango
music Vincent Scotto
Dancers Katalin, Isabella, India, Sayaka, Emma, Mina, Julia, Ilgim, Pierre Antoine, Eliot, Ylian, Erwan, Tilman, Théo, Celian
The little girl Athanasia
The repression
music **Now Sittner **
& Youval Micenmacher
Dancers Ana Laura, Akira, Nik, Leonardo, Quentin, Leandre, William
The trip to America
music **The Golden Gate Quartet **
Dancers Julie, Lana, Daphné, Rayan, Noa, Pierre Antoine
music** Lucienne Delyle**
arrangement **Anne Vadagnin **
dancers all
The manager
with the extraordinary participation of Tancredo Tavares
Orientalia
music **Ravi Shankar
dancers Yuni & Eliot
Segregation
music The Golden Gate Quartet
dancers Julie, Lana, Daphné, Rayan, Noa
ACT 3
Hollywoodland
music Claude Luter
Dancers Katlin, Isabella, Yuni, India, Sayaka, Julia, Mina, Ilgim, Daphné, Heesoo, Marie, Julie, Emma, Anastasiia, Micol, Akira, Athanasia, Ylian, Erwan, Tilman, Eliot, Celian, Leonardo
The contract
music John Barry
dancers Katlin, Théo, Noa, Rayan, Pierre Antoine
The arranged marriage
music Astor Piazzolla
dancers Katalin, Pierre Antoine
The cinema
music** Nino Rota**
Dancers Pierre Antoine, Noa & Isabella, Anastasiia, Quentin, William, Leonardo, Ana Laura, Leandre, Nik, Mina, Erwan, Ylian, Celian, Théo, Eliot, India, Julie, Emma, Marie, Heesoo, Akira
Natacha Rambova
music poems by Jacques Prévert read from Jeanne Moreau
dancers Anastasiia, Pierre Antoine
The paparazzi
music Anne Vadagnin
Dancers Yuni, Daphné, Lana, Giulia, Mina, Heesoo, Marie, Julie, Emma, Ana Laura, Akira, Micol, Athanasia, Quentin, Nik, William, Leandre, Leonardo, Noa
Smile
music Charles Chaplin
arrangement Anne Vadagnin
with the extraordinary participation of Michel Gascard
The boxing match
music** Claude Nougaro **
dancers Celian, Nik, Léandre, Quentin, Leonardo, Eliot, Rayan, Ylian, Erwan, Tilman, Noa, Théo, Pierre Antoine
The revelation of the enigma
music Anne Vadagnin
dancers all
Final
music Anne Vadagnin
dancers all
video editing Valérie Lacaze
the show was produced with the support of
Le label TaoFemina, le Téâtre Barnabé à Servion, L´Ecole-Atelier Rudra Béjart Lausanne
and its partners Fondation de Famille Sandoz, La Loterie Romande, Fondation Leenaards, Le Béjart Ballet Lausanne, La Fondation Maurice Béjart
Michel Gascard trained with his mother, Colette Milner, at the Conservatoire de La Rochelle in France. In 1973, at the age of 16, he was the first winner of the international competition "Prix de Lausanne." He enters the Mudra school to Brussels, under the direction of Maurice Béjart. After a year of studies, he joins the company "Ballet du XXième siècle" in 1974. He obtained his first roles from soloist to only 17 years old. Over the span of 25 years, Maurice Béjart creates several roles for him: _7 danses grecques, Dionysos, Light, Ring um den Ring, Souvenirs de Leningrad, Mozart Tango... _In addition, Michel Gascard takes up roles from the Béjartian repertoire: Bhakti, The Firebird, Petrouchka, Golestan i.e. The Rose Garden... As a choreographer, he creates in 1984 _Trois pour trois _at Cirque Royal in Brussels and Children corner to Milan. Soloist and répétiteur of Béjart Ballet Lausanne, he decided to end his career in 1992 and work alongside Maurice Béjart to create the École - Atelier Rudra Bejart in Lausanne. In 2007, after 35 years of close collaboration with Maurice Béjart, the latter appointed him by his will as director of the school. He teaches ballet and passes on Maurice Béjart's repertoire in the form of choreographic studies. He regularly remixes Béjart's choreography for the world's greatest stages: Béjart Ballet Lausanne, Opéra de Paris, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, National Ballet of China, Tokyo Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo...
Valérie Lacaze is an independent choreographer. Since 1996, when Maurice Béjart hired her as a teacher, the Rudra Béjart school regularly invited her to to create original choreography. In 2013, her show_ Qualia ou la vie d´artiste_ is produced at the Nîmes Arena in France as part of the "European Capitals of French Culture." It attracts more than 38,000 spectators and is also sold out twice at the Tianqio Theater in Beijing, China. In 2012, at the Théâtre National in Brussels, Mission Suisse commissions her_ Camille Claudel, la mariée de l´oubli _for the ambassadors of the European Union. She creates _Le faune était une femme _on the music of Claude Debussy for a soloist from the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York. A performance that, together to the one staged at the Cape Dance Festival in New York, received a standing ovation from the audience. In 2015, one of his creations is on the bill at the Festival du Grand Théâtre de Quebec in Canada. In 2016, he choreographs for the National Ballet of China at the request of its director, Li Feng. Since 1990, national and international competitions have turned to to her to create the compulsory variations. Valérie Lacaze is a member of the International Dance Council (UNESCO).