''Dancing Beethoven'' is a 2017

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

by the Spanish director Arantxa Aguirre. It is about the work of the choreographer

Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French dancer, choreographer and Theatre director, opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, tac ...

, founder of the

Ballet of the 20th Century Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and other dance companies. It was released on 13 April 2017 in Germany and on 28 April 2017 in Spain. Shooting took place in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

over nine months. It tells the story of a revival of choreography created by Béjart in the 1960s for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The performance is given in Tokyo and the dancers are from the Béjart Ballet Lausanne and

Tokyo Ballet The Tokyo Ballet is a classical ballet company, based in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1964. It is one of the leading performing arts companies in Japan. History European classical ballet, heavily influenced by Russian methods, was introduced to Ja ...

, accompanied by the

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is a major Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert ...

, conducted by

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

Cast

Awards and nominations

''Dancing Beethoven'' was nominated in the

32nd Goya Awards The 32nd Goya Awards were presented at the Madrid Marriott Auditorium Hotel in Madrid on 3 February 2018, to honour the best in Spanish films of 2017. Joaquín Reyes (Spanish actor), Joaquín Reyes and Ernesto Sevilla hosted the awards ceremony. ...

for Best Documentary Film and for the for Best Documentary Feature although finally won.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Documentary films about ballet Spanish documentary films Swiss documentary films Ballets to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) Zubin Mehta Israel Philharmonic Orchestra