Twelve dancers from the Paris Opéra Junior Ballet create a tableau onstage with various poses. One dancer is lifted up on her back, her top leg pointing upward. Other dancers lunge forward, tendu, balance in sous-sus, and pose in arabesque. They all wear shiny, full, deep-red skirts and either nothing or a nude-colored leotard on top.

The Paris Opéra Junior Ballet in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Requiem for a Rose. Photo by Maria Helena Buckley, courtesy Paris Opéra Ballet.

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The Paris Opéra Junior Ballet Makes Its American Debut

Lucy Spencer Mason

July 21, 2026

This month, the Paris Opéra Junior Ballet will make its U.S. debut in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. As part of an annual summer gala held by the dance education organization Dancers’ Workshop, the Junior Ballet will perform an exciting mixed bill on July 23 and 24 at Jackson Hole’s Center for the Arts. The 21 dancers will then remain in the city for a six-day residency with Dancers’ Workshop that includes an open rehearsal, a master class with ballet mistress Béatrice Martel, and a dinner and moderated discussion at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

The performances will feature Eternal Rift, by Julian Nicosia, a contemporary work created for the Junior Ballet that debuted in Malaysia earlier this season. (The costumes, black unitards with gold embellishments, were designed by Chanel.) Also on the program are George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Maurice Béjart’s Cantate 51, and Mi Favorita,by Paris Opéra Ballet dance director José Martinez.

Paris Opéra Junior Ballet—24 dancers and one director—pose for a group photo arranged in three lines. They pose in front of three large circular windows in a bright ballet studio. — The 2025 Paris Opéra Junior Ballet. Photo by Julien Benhamou, courtesy Paris Opéra Ballet.

Created in 2024, the Junior Ballet features dancers ages 18 through 23 from across the globe. It now joins a growing list of companies that have performed at previous Dancers’ Workshop summer galas, including San Francisco Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, the Martha Graham Dance Company, and more.

dancers' workshop jackson hole center for the arts josé martínez julian nicosia paris opera ballet paris opera junior ballet