Born in Brussels, a chemist by training, he and his brother
Jacques were involved in the founding of the
Comédiens routiers, the precursors of the
Théâtre national de Belgique established in 1945. When in 1959 he succeeded
Joseph Rogatchewsky at the head of
La Monnaie, he developed a policy of international exchange and public outreach, with a particular focus on youth. That same year, he brought some of his dancers and the ballet troupe of La Monnaie to create the highly successful
Rite of Spring. Following this, Huisman and Béjart founded the
Ballet of the 20th Century in 1960. Wishing to broaden the company's audience, they brought out the dance from the Théâtre de la Monnaie to present
Les Quatre Fils Aymon at the
Cirque Royal in 1961, the choreographer's first major popular success. This ballet was followed by many others, which made La Monnaie one of the first choreographic scenes in Europe But Huisman did not abandon the lyrical productions. He involved renowned directors such as
Franco Zeffirelli (
Rigoletto and
Falstaff),
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (several operas by
Rossini), and
Wieland Wagner (
Tristan und Isolde, which premiere took place in Brussels before
Bayreuth). Although he preferred to give young artists and original productions a chance, Huisman nevertheless invited many stars, such as
Victoria de los Ángeles,
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf,
Mario Del Monaco,
José Carreras and
José van Dam. In 1968, he hired
Jacques Brel for the first French version of
Man of La Mancha, an adaptation of
Dale Wasserman's
musical theatre Man of La Mancha, played in
Broadway in 1965. The premiere took place at La Monnaie on October 4, 1968 and then in Paris in December. Huisman also paid attention to the renewal of
Baroque music, staging performances of works by (
Rameau,
Cavalli,
Monteverdi) and to 20th century works (
Janáček,
Alban Berg,
Dario Fo,
Philip Glass,
Bob Wilson). He died in a car crash. == References ==