Ballet Chaka en devenir

Le Ballet Chaka Maurice Béjart – Gianni Versace – Eric Vu-An

Photo Jacques E. Cloarec

Chaka, choreography: Maurice Béjart
Music: Brazilian and Ivory Coast folk music, poems by Léopold Sédar Senghor
Costumes: Gianni Versace
Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, Paris, May 22, 1989
Béjart Ballet Lausanne, soloist: Eric Vu-An

Maurice Béjart, whom I met through Alain Daniélou, by whose side I worked for 32 years, came to spend a period of convalescence at Alain Daniélou’s estate near Rome (1984). It was during this visit that Maurice Béjart took an interest in my beginnings as a “young” photographer, while gently mocking dance photographers who want to capture what is actually only movement.

In any case, he generously offered to let me photograph him whenever and wherever I wanted, during performances, rehearsals and in his private life. So I photographed almost all his creations in the 80s. I had a background in photography, having photographed Asian musicians for over twenty years for the illustrations in the UNESCO collection of traditional music created and directed by Alain Daniélou, with myself as the technical director. But tackling dance photography is a challenge, and I’m well aware that my efforts haven’t often achieved the necessary quality.

However, my idea, which I also pursued with the Italian composer Sylvano Bussotti for his operas and the classical operas he staged, was to follow the company during the creation of each new work, i.e. during the days leading up to the premiere, assisting with rehearsals as well as the creation of costumes and sets.

Thus, the photos presented in this album are those of a ballet in creation, “in the making”, unpublished documentation of the collaboration of the three artists for the Ballet Chaka performed in 1989 at the Grand Palais in Paris: at the last moment, Béjart decided not to use the Giovanni Versace costumes photographed at one of the last rehearsals, and replaced them with tails, worn by the dancers with bare torsos.

Eric Vu An confided to me that, at every rehearsal, he feared he would not be able to force his body to follow the choreography Béjart taught him, which he considered one of the most difficult he had ever interpreted.

Jacques E. Cloarec, Lausanne May 2016