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Maurice Bejart, who sought to bring ballet to younger audiences with his provocative choreography, has died. He was 80.
The Frenchman stunned critics with his avant-garde dance performances and set new standards for ballet in a career spanning five decades. His signature work was Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, which in 1959 was his first production with Belgium's Monnaie Theatre.
In 1985, he opened the 20th century ballet season in New York with a two-hour murder mystery dance, that was typical of his love for piecing together collages of classical dance with shards of humour and camp, snippets of varied music and flashes of wit.
A close friend of the late Gianni Versace, Bejart recently wrote and choreographed a two-part ballet Thank you, Gianni, With Love that played in Milan on the 10th anniversary of the Italian fashion designer's murder.
