Julien Favreau has been confirmed in his position as artistic director of the Béjart Ballet (archives).
Photo: KEYSTONE/VALENTIN FLAURAUD
Julien Favreau has been confirmed in his position as artistic director of the Béjart Ballet Lausanne (BBL). The Frenchman, a dancer with the company for 30 years, had been acting in this role on an interim basis since February.
This appointment ‘guarantees the perpetuation of Maurice Béjart’s artistic legacy’. It also ‘strengthens the extremely dynamic new momentum that the company has experienced’ since Julien Favreau took over as artistic director, the BBL announced in a press release on Friday.
The Foundation Board unanimously appointed Julien Favreau. Born in 1977 in La Rochelle, the Frenchman trained in classical and contemporary dance before joining the Rudra Béjart school in Lausanne in 1994.
Quickly spotted by Maurice Béjart, he joined the ballet a year later, subsequently taking on important roles. After Maurice Béjart’s death and under the artistic direction of Gil Roman from 2007, he continued to take on soloist roles and participated in various creations.
Last February, he took over the artistic direction ad interim after the dismissal of Gil Roman. The latter, on probation after an audit revealed his sometimes insulting and angry behavior, had committed ‘one too many’ in January at the Opéra Garnier in Paris.
There was invited to the performance and then to the private aperitif with the troupe, the former production director of the BBL, dismissed in 2021 for attitudes and comments relating to sexual harassment.
/ATS
