Jean Babilée

Jean Babilée, born Jean Gutmann on 3 February 1923 in Paris, France, was a French dancer and choreographer who became one of the most celebrated ballet performers of the twentieth century. The son of a doctor, he adopted his mother's maiden name as his professional identity. He died on 30 January 2014. His Broadway appearance came in 1979 with Béjart: Ballet of the Twentieth Century.

Babilée began his formal training at the Paris Opéra Ballet School, where he studied from 1936 to 1940. His early career was disrupted by World War II. Because his father was Jewish, he faced serious danger under the German occupation. He departed Paris in 1940 as the Wehrmacht advanced on the city, though he returned to dance with the Paris Opera Ballet in early 1942. On 16 July 1942, during the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup, he narrowly avoided deportation to Auschwitz. In early 1943, facing the threat of compulsory forced labor in Germany, he left Paris again and spent the remainder of the war fighting with the French Resistance, specifically with the Maquis in Touraine.

Following the war, Babilée resumed his dance career by joining the Soirées de la Danse, an organization that subsequently became Les Ballets des Champs-Élysées. From 1945 to 1950 he served as principal dancer of that company, creating roles in several notable works including Jeu de cartes, Jean Cocteau's Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, L'Amour et son amour, and Till Eulenspiegel. His wife, featured ballerina Nathalie Philippart, performed opposite him in a number of these productions. During the 1946 premiere of Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, he suspended himself by the neck from a gallows for one minute, bracing himself with one arm around a pillar. His physical capabilities drew widespread attention throughout the 1940s, and he was compared to Nijinsky for the quality of his leaping. He also achieved significant recognition as a member of Les Ballets de Paris.

During the 1950s, Babilée danced as a guest artist with Le Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris and the American Ballet Theatre, and he subsequently founded his own ensemble, Les Ballets Jean Babilée. In 1972 and 1973 he served as director of the Ballet du Rhin in Strasbourg. His association with choreographer Maurice Béjart extended across decades, culminating in his 1979 Broadway appearance with Béjart: Ballet of the Twentieth Century. In the early 1980s, Béjart created the solo Life specifically for him. In 1984, at the age of 61, Babilée performed Le Jeune Homme et la Mort once more, this time with the Ballet de Marseille.

Beyond dance, Babilée worked as a stage actor and appeared in several films. In 2000, director Patrick Bensard released the documentary Le Mystère Babilée, which reconstructed his career through interviews with Babilée himself, excerpts from his choreographic work, and recollections from collaborators including Béjart, Christian Lacroix, Jean-Paul Goude, and Yvette Chauviré.