Maurice Béjart's legendary work comes to Zurich

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Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the iconic band Queen, combined with stylish costumes designed by Gianni Versace. The Béjart Ballet Lausanne will be performing Ballet for Life in Zurich from 7 to 9 November 2025. A tribute to life.

When Maurice Béjart presented his choreography Ballet for Life to the world in Lausanne on 15 December 1996, he made dance history. Almost three decades later, this work has lost none of its charisma. It remains a timeless celebration of life, a tribute to youth, hope and the unshakeable power of art. After its first run in 2009, this extraordinary stage production is now returning to Zurich for the second time.

Love, loss, hope and transience

One of the most visionary choreographers of the 20th century and founder of the Béjart Ballet in Lausanne, Béjart has shown fearless intuition in combining two worlds that could hardly be more different. The music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the bombastic sound of Queen and the opulent aesthetic of fashion designer Gianni Versace. The result is a work that transcends boundaries – sensual, emotional and deeply human. In his memoirs, Maurice Béjart called it “a ballet about youth and hope”. And indeed, Ballet for Life is as complex as life itself. A dance that encompasses light and shadow, life and death. Or, in the immortal words of Queen, “the show must go on”.

The ballet takes the audience on an emotional journey that reflects the highs and lows of human existence. It honours the memory of Freddie Mercury and Jorge Donn. Rousing Queen songs such as Bohemian Rhapsody and Radio Ga Ga, as well as Mozart’s compositions Così fan tutte, Concerto No. 21 and Thamos, King of Egypt, merge into a sensual experience that celebrates art as a constant force in the flow of time.

Sources of inspiration

Maurice Béjart discovered Queen’s music in the 1980s.“It was love at first sight. Invention, violence, humour and love. It’s all there. I love this band. It inspires and guides me, sometimes through this no man’s land where we will all go one day, and where, I am sure, Freddie Mercury is playing a duet with Mozart on the piano.” This is how Béjart describes the fascination that has never left him.

Over time, further pieces of the puzzle fell into place, creating a bigger picture and Béjart recognised a tragic parallel. Both Freddie Mercury, the charismatic frontman of Queen, and Jorge Donn, his celebrated solo dancer, died within a year of each other. Both were 45 years old. The geographical connections were also astonishing. In his final years, Freddie Mercury lived in a villa in Clarens on Lake Geneva. In addition, Queen had bought Mountain Studios in the east wing of the Montreux Casino, where David Bowie, the Rolling Stones and others recorded. One thing led to another. Béjart was intrigued by the idea of creating a ballet about Mercury and Donn. A work about life, loss and artistic immortality. And fate played a part too. Jim Beach, Queen’s producer, also lived in Montreux, very close to Béjart. Quite a few coincidences, or, as Béjart called them, connections.

Gianni Versace, with whom Maurice Béjart had been working on and off since 1984, proved to be the ideal partner when it came to combining the contrasting musical worlds in colour and form. “I asked Gianni Versace to keep the costumes entirely in white. White allows us to create extravagant shapes while maintaining austerity,” explained Béjart. For Versace, working for the stage was an act of liberation, a form of design without the constraints of the fashion world. Their shared creative energy connected the two artists for years. “As soon as we start working, Gianni becomes as anxious and pedantic as a beginner. Me too. And that is precisely one of the secrets of our friendship,” wrote Béjart in his memoirs, La vie de qui?. Two masters of their art, united in the pursuit of perfection. Disciplined, passionate and carried by mutual admiration.

Béjart Ballet Lausanne – Ballet for Life, 7 to 9 November 2025, Theater 11, Zurich