ECOLE-ATELIER RUDRA BÉJART LAUSANNE

[etudes]

Hi,

 

I am very interested in applying for this school, and I am wondering if anyone can give many information on this programme. I have looked at the website and it seems to be more contemporary based training than classical. Would anybody know if this is correct?

 

Thank you in advance

Etudes

[Hans]

I attended Rudra from 2001 to 2002, and I can tell you life there is not easy! However, it is also a tremendously enriching experience. When I was there, we all had ballet class every morning at 9am--the entire school all together in one class. After that was usually modern dance (although the teacher who was there when I was has since left). In modern we were separated into first and second year students. Also nearly every day was classical voice training with Svetlana Bally-Andreevna, and percussion, and often Kendo as well. There were other classes that varied throughout the year--Indian dance, African dance, Commedia dell'Arte, gymnastics, &c., and of course rehearsals both for school productions and for supernumerary parts in Béjart Ballet Lausanne performances. Pointe and pas de deux classes were infrequent--pointe maybe two or three times a week, if that, and pas de deux even less.

 

It was a very demanding schedule--9am to 7pm six days a week (your day off is Monday, and be prepared for it to not be very restful as you will be doing laundry, buying food, cooking for the week, paying bills, &c). Very occasionally, we would even be there 7 days a week. It is a two-year program, but I ran out of energy toward the end of the first year and did not return. However, as stressful as it was, I learned an enormous amount and had a wonderful time. Rudra attracts students from around the world, which adds another layer to the experience. I am still in touch with many of the friends I made there.

 

As the ballet classes are so crowded, it is important that you already have strong ballet technique, as you will not receive much attention in those. I do not know what life is like at Rudra now that Béjart is no longer with us, but the director, Michel Gascard, has a very intense personality, and I am sure he is upholding high standards.

[Claude_Catastrophique]

As far as I know they try to continue the school in the sense of Béjart.

[etudes]

Thank you for your really informative reply, you have certainly given me a lot to think about!! It doesn't sound like there is much focus on ballet

 

Etudes

xx

[Hans]

I would say that if you want to dance Béjart or to mix dance with theatre, Rudra is the place to be, but if you want primarily to be a classical ballet dancer, you should probably go somewhere else, especially if you need more ballet training.

[Kathleenie_Ballerinie]

Since this school has a lot of contemporary and theater influence, how many graduates go into classical ballet companies? The website said the 80-90 percent of graduates on average and 100 percent in 2007 got dance "employment", but what percentage of that employment, I wonder, is in a ballet company, as opposed to a modern company?

[Hans]

That I do not know. I believe the main idea is to provide dancers for Béjart Ballet Lausanne. Of my friends there, one has gone into modern dance and several others into ballet companies, but I don't know what the overall percentages are.