Reverence: The Maverick Star

You are a choreographer as well as a dancer. What drew you to hip hop for
Les Rares Différences, the piece you made for the 2007 Festival of Dance in Suresnes?

My subject was Auguste Rodin. I needed bodies like sculptures—ballet dancers are too lean. Hip hop dancers have an absolutely statuesque upper body. I learned a lot from hip hop, too, especially from the movement dissociations.

What are you currently working on?

I’m putting together the first dance flash mob in France, for a charity. We will have professional dancers performing in a train station.

Who inspires you?

All of my colleagues. I pay a lot of attention to them, and I always find something that I would like to replicate. I love taking a little something from everyone.

Of which accomplishment are you the most proud?

I loved my first Don Quixotes and Swan Lakes. It was a consecration—I was already an étoile, even though I didn’t have the title. The audience and the orchestra were stamping. My dressing room was so filled with flowers I couldn’t sit.

What do you do on your days off?

I sleep, and I go to the theater. I also paint—it’s  a good way to let go of everything.

What’s your specialty in the kitchen?

Turkey escalopes with potatoes, mushrooms and cream. I am something of a gourmet, and I eat a lot!

What skill would you most like to have?

To control the weather, so that I can take care of people.


Do you have any hidden talents?

I am keen on embroidery. It allows me to stop thinking, to focus on something else. I just think too much.


What advice do you have for students hoping to become professional dancers?

Watch those around you. That’s how I made it—by listening and watching more than everybody else.

To whom do you attribute your success?

To myself. To my determination.

How would you like to be remembered?

I think people will remember me in any case, because everything about me is so extreme. I’ve already made dance history in France.