| Paris Opera Ballet | |
|---|---|
_Logo.png){kind=logo} Logo of the Paris Opera | |
| General information | |
| Name | Paris Opera Ballet |
| Local name | Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris |
| Previous names |
|
| Year founded | 1669 |
| Principal venue | Palais Garnier, Place de l'Opéra, Paris, 9th arrondissement, France |
| Website | www.operadeparis.fr |
| Senior staff | |
| Administrator | Flavien Moglia |
| Director | José Martínez |
| Other | |
| Associated schools | Paris Opera Ballet School[1] |
| Formation | Étoile Premier Danseur Sujet Coryphée Quadrille |
The Paris Opera Ballet (French: Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris) is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded as one of the four most prominent ballet companies in the world, together with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, the Mariinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg and the Royal Ballet in London.[2][3][4][5]
Since December 2022, the company has been under the direction of José Martínez, the director of dance. The ballet company consists of 154 dancers, among them 17 Danseurs Étoiles. The principal dancers give 180 dance performances each year, primarily at the Palais Garnier.[6]
Just as prestigious as the Paris Opera Ballet is its dance school, the Paris Opera Ballet School (French: École de danse de l'Opéra national de Paris), considered to be one of the world's best dance schools.[7] Its former pupils have won a record of 20 Benois de la Danse awards. The school celebrated its tercentennial in 2013.
The competition for admission to both institutions is extremely fierce.[8] For a dancer to enter the Paris Opera Ballet, it is almost compulsory to be admitted to the Paris Opera Ballet School, to pass the annual competitive examinations in May, and to attend at least the final two classes.[9] 95 percent of the admitted dancers in the Paris Opera Ballet are French.[9]
- ^ "Paris Opera Ballet" in Crane and Mackrell 2000, pp. 360–361.
- ^ "There are three world-best ballet companies, unquestionably the Royal Ballet, unquestionably the Bolchoi Ballet, and unquestionably the Paris Opera Ballet" - « Il y en a trois meilleures compagnies du monde, sans doute Le Royal Ballet, sans doute Le Bolchoï et sans doute Le Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris.», Philippe Noisette, journaliste, dans La Danse à tout prix, television documentary by Carlos Simoes, 2012, 129 min, broadcast on 26 December 2012 on France 2.
- ^ Haut vol Archived 2015-03-28 at the Wayback Machine interpreted by Éleonore Baulac and Allister Madin, choreography by Benjamin Millepied, film by Louis de Caunes.
- ^ Pourquoi les ballets de l'Opéra de Paris font partie des spectacles favoris des fêtes, article by Martine Robert, 27 December 2013, Les Echos.
- ^ If you add the St Petersburg Mariinsky Ballet and the New York City Ballet to the list, you get the top five ballet companies in the world.
- ^ Paris Opera Ballet, site of the Paris Opera.
- ^ Paris Opera Ballet School - a World of its Own Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, L'école de danse, un monde à part, review of the press of April 2013.
- ^ See below (paragraph hierarchy).
- ^ a b Interview with New San Francisco Ballet Principal, Mathilde Froustey, by Laura Jaye Cramer, 23 January 2014, SF Weekly, extract: "You cannot get into the company if you have not done the school" (Mathilde Froustey).