by Laura Cappelle | Feb 8, 2021 | Dance Magazine, Instagram, News
Five years after Benjamin Millepied was met with fierce resistance for bringing up racist practices within the Paris Opéra Ballet, the French company is finally acknowledging its lack of diversity. This week, the Paris Opéra released an official report...
by Pointe Magazine | Dec 31, 2020 | Profiles, The Latest
Our friends at Dance Magazine announced their annual “25 to Watch” list on January 1, and we can’t think of a better way to ring in 2021. The round-up of emerging talent features dancers, choreographers and companies you should know, spanning...
by Laura Cappelle | Nov 11, 2020 | Career, Instagram, News, Onstage, Profiles, The Latest
Not many 23-year-olds get commissioned by the Paris Opéra Ballet. For Tess Voelker, who grew up between Chicago and New Jersey before moving to Europe to start her dance career, 2020 has turned into an unexpectedly charmed year: In addition to getting a...
by Julia Rosica | Aug 12, 2020 | TBT
Sylvie Guillem and Éric Vu-An, two former leading dancers with the Paris Opéra Ballet, were both muses to Maurice Béjart. The boundary-pushing choreographer created several roles for each of them throughout their careers, including the 1985 duet “Mouvement,...
by Julia Rosica | Jun 24, 2020 | Viral Videos
Yuan Yuan Tan and José Martínez both left their respective homes in China and Spain as teens to join top ballet companies. Tan was quickly made a principal at San Francisco Ballet and Martínez rose to étoile at the Paris Opéra Ballet, both becoming sought-after...
by Julia Rosica | Apr 29, 2020 | TBT
In this 2006 clip of Myrtha’s entrance in Giselle, former Paris Opéra Ballet étoile Marie-Agnès Gillot gives an other-worldly performance that is chilling, ethereal and technically sublime. Her footwork throughout the solo is mesmerizing, and it receives full...
by Julia Rosica | Mar 4, 2020 | TBT
Of all the tragic onstage deaths in ballet, Manon’s in Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s eponymous ballet may the most physically wrenching. The final pas de deux between Manon and Des Grieux is intricate and extreme, both technically and emotionally. Jonathan Cope...
by Anne McCarthy For Dance Magazine | Jan 20, 2020 | News, The Latest
When French President Emmanuel Macron proposed widespread pension reforms in December, the repercussions were felt almost immediately throughout France. In Paris, protests reverberated through the city. Metro trains halted, the Eiffel Tower was shut down, schools...