Maurice Béjart’s compelling staging of Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” has been enchanting audiences worldwide since its inception and its idea of universal brotherhood remains highly topical. Fifty years after its premiere, the Tokyo Ballet and Béjart Ballet Lausanne present Béjart’s groundbreaking choreography in Tokyo's NHK Hall. With nearly 200 artists on one stage, Beethoven’s score is performed by the Ritsuyu-kai Choir, soloists Kristin Lewis, Mihoko Fujimura, Kei Fukui, and Alexander Vinogradov, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta.

 

“Alle Menschen werden Brüder” (All men will be brothers) is the powerful message communicated by the unforgettable music and choreography. From the stage, dancers and musicians send this message out into the world. Béjart described the four movements as earth and the struggle to reach an ideal, fire and the joy of dance, water and love, and liberty and air. The colour palettes of each reflect their message and it all takes place on a striking floor design reminiscent of a celestial diagram that’s full of geometric patterns, lines and circles of different diameters. The Ninth Symphony is truly a one-of-a-kind work of ballet, choreographed to Beethoven's Ninth just as the great Maurice Béjart envisioned it.

 

Lincoln Theater is located at 2 Theater St. in the heart of downtown Damariscotta. Tickets, $15/adult, $13/members, and $5/youth 18 and under, are available at the door beginning 30 minutes before showtime, or in advance through our online box office at LincolnTheater.net.