In Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky took up the legend of the immaculate bird to create some of the most beautiful music ever written for ballet. The choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov left their distinguished mark on this story of an impossible love between an earthly prince and a bird‑princess, refashioning the myth of the swan‑dancer, the ultimate ballerina.When creating his version for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1984, Rudolf Nureyev chose to give it a Freudian dimension, illuminating Tchaikovsky’s poetic dream through a sense of profound hopelessness. The Paris Opera Corps de Ballet The Paris Opera OrchestraA co-production by the Paris Opera and Telmondis, with the participation of France Télévisions, and the support of the CNC and the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts.Director: François-René Martin © Opéra national de Paris – Telmondis – 2019 Picture: © Julien Benhamou / OnP

<ul><li>Siegfried: Young prince in love with Odette, he swears fidelity to her and seeks to save her from her curse. Unfortunately he is deceived by Rothbart and Odile.</li><li>Odette: Young princess transformed into a swan by Rothbart, only eternal love can free her.</li><li>Odile: Rothbart’s daughter, she takes the appearance of Odette to trick Siegfried.</li><li>Rothbart: A huge bird of prey, he transforms young women into swans and prevents Siegfried and Odette’s union.</li><li>Wolfgang: The Prince’s tutor, he mysteriously disappears when Rothbart appears.</li></ul>

DSC_6405 (c) Julien Benhamou - OnP

Swan Lake (2018)

Swan Lake (season 18/19)

In Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky took up the legend of the immaculate bird to create some of the most beautiful music ever written for ballet. The choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov left their distinguished mark on this story of an impossible love 

Rudolf Nureyev

The final work of a life utterly devoted to dance, La Bayadère by Rudolf Nureyev has become one of the jewels of the Paris Opera Ballet’s repertoire. First performed in 1992, La Bayadère recounts the ill-fated loves of the dancer Nikiya and the noble warrior Solor, promised to the redoubtable Gamzatti, in an imaginary India complete with elephants, tigers and palanquins.Rudolf Nureyev adapted the choreography by Marius Petipa – to music by Ludwig Minkus – restructuring it to include virtuosi variations and large‑scale ensemble movements. The celebrated Royaume des Ombres (Kingdom of Shadows) in Act III is considered to be one of the summits of choreographic art.Unfailingly popular at the Paris Opera, the spectacular richness of Ezio Frigerio’s decors and costumes by Franca Squarciapino make La Bayadère a flamboyant spectacle. The Etoiles, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet The Paris Opera OrchestraUne production de l’Opéra national de ParisDirector: Isabelle Julien © Opéra national de Paris - 2020 Picture: © Little Shao / OnP

<ul><li>Solor: A noble and valiant warrior from the Indian kingdom of Golconda. He is in love with Nikiya.</li><li>Nikiya: Temple dancer and guardian of the Temple’s sacred fire. She is in love with Solor.</li><li>The High Brahmin: High priest of the temple. He is secretly in love with Nikiya.</li><li>The Rajah of Golconda: Monarch of the kingdom, father of Gamzatti. He wants her to marry Solor.</li><li>Gamzatti: The daughter of the Rajah of Golconda and Solor’s fiancée.</li><li>The Kshatriyas: Friends of Solor and members of the caste holding temporal power.</li><li>The Slave: Dances with Nikiya at the betrothal of Gamzatti and Solor.</li><li>Aiya: Gamzatti’s servant.</li><li>The Golden Idol: Incarnation evoking the god Shiva, holding the position of the lotus flower.</li><li>The Shades: The ghosts of dead bayadères.</li></ul>

Live Bayadere

La Bayadère

The final work of a life utterly devoted to dance, La Bayadère by Rudolf Nureyev has become one of the jewels of the Paris Opera Ballet’s repertoire. First performed in 1992, La Bayadère recounts the ill-fated loves of the dancer Nikiya and the noble

Rudolf Noureev

Guided by a strange voice under the flickering light of a flush-fitting ceiling lamp, two men observe one another and then confront each other. This duo soon becomes a crowd, a swell, which comes alive to the rhythm of Chopin’s preludes. Crystal Pite’s second creation for the Paris Opera Ballet, Body and Soul serves up waves of words and gestures which form the material for a secret narrative. Through the movement of the dancers, the words of a woman never cease to manifest themselves, like a duet between body and soul. Exploring the theme of mourning and bereavement, the Canadian choreographer presents the conflicting urges and impulses that challenge the unity of each of us. In a mysterious twilight awash with sound effects, this dramatically powerful three-act ballet progresses, not without humour, towards an exuberant and stimulating finale.  Les Étoiles, les Premiers Danseurs et le Corps de Ballet de l’OpéraWith the participation of France Télévisions, the support of the ORANGE Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animée. A co-production of the Opéra national de Paris and La Belle TéléDirector: Tommy PascalOpéra national de Paris - La Belle Télé - 2020 Visuals © Julien Benhamou / OnP

Body and Soul

Guided by a strange voice under the flickering light of a flush-fitting ceiling lamp, two men observe one another and then confront each other. This duo soon becomes a crowd, a swell, which comes alive to the rhythm of Chopin’s preludes. Crystal Pite

Crystal Pite

Created in 2004 by Trisha Brown, an emblematic figure of New-York avant-garde, O złozony / O composite was a milestone in the “Postmodern Dance” era at the Paris Opera, a major step for both the performers and the choreographer who intensely questioned theatrical conventions.“The body is the place where any dream can come true”: in this piece, Trisha Brown explores an experimental work where poetry is put in motion and dance is weaved and intertwined along the verses of poets Czeslaw Milosz and Edna St. Vincent Millay.Working in cycles, she unveils here an attempt to combine classical and postmodern dance languages, echoed by Laurie Anderson’s music that embellishes the Polish sonorities of the text, and danced under a sky full of stars designed by Vija Celmins. A co-production of Opéra de Paris production and Souffleurs de vert With the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, the participation of France Télévisions, the support of the American Friends of the Paris Opera & Ballet and the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcastsDirector: François Goetghebeur © 2013 - Opéra national de Paris production – Souffleurs de vertPicture: © Anne Deniau / OnP

O złozony / O composite 

Created in 2004 by Trisha Brown, an emblematic figure of New-York avant-garde, O złozony / O composite was a milestone in the “Postmodern Dance” era at the Paris Opera, a major step for both the performers and the choreographer who intensely question

Trisha Brown

Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, a major figure of the choreographic stage, creates with Rain a piece of a rare intensity and pure refinement.The choreographer leads the dancers through the rhythmic pulsations of one of Steve Reich's main scores, Music for Eighteen Musicians, performed by the Ensemble Ictus.On stage, both music and dance drive the dancers into a perpetual momentum, a dizzying and jubilant race that seems to make life spring forth. The Étoiles, the Premières Danseuses, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet A co-production of the Paris Opera, Idéale Audience and ARTE France, with the participation of Mezzo and VRT With the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and with the assistance of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée.Director: Louise Narboni © 2014 – Opéra national de Paris - Idéale Audience – ARTE FrancePicture: © Agathe Poupeney / OnP

rain

Rain

Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, a major figure of the choreographic stage, creates with Rain a piece of a rare intensity and pure refinement. The choreographer leads the dancers through the rhythmic pulsations of one of Steve Reich's main scores, Music f

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

This triptych spans ten years of creation (from 1986 to 1995) and bears witness to Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s remarkable dialogues with the great scores of classical music. The term “dialogue” is undoubtedly too tame to describe this almost physical confrontation between two arts.De Keersmaeker addresses music using all the nuances of passion: need, defiance, oneupmanship… The key notion is polyphony. The irresistible energy that sets free these fluid, nervous bodies – at times openly insolent, at others exhausted as if conquered by the musics – is essentially that of “dizzying counterpoint”.Additional voices continually emerge; new connections or unexpected combinations multiplying the curves of a spiral of movements in which the audience joyfully loses all sense of direction.De Keersmaeker's work on Bartók’s Quartet N°4 displays her initial style: a combination of short motifs, danced with dry humour by a quartet of adolescent girls.The virtuoso choreography to Beethoven’s Die Grosse Fuge, which this time is highly masculine and based on a falling motif, allows us to appreciate the development of the choreographer’s compositional technique.The third section, Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), dedicated to the young Schönberg, finally reveals her most intimate side: the evening ends in heartrending abandon, with the almost narrative evocation of a couple transfigured by the gift of love –, portrayed in dance suffused with a passion for music.Sharing the same musical intensity, these three ballets form a poetic and mysterious ensemble.<div> A co-production of Idéale Audience, Opéra national de Paris and ARTE France With the participation of Mezzo and the ERR, with the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the Centre national de la cinématographie et de l'image animée.Director: Louise Narboni © Opéra national de Paris – ARTE France - Idéale Audience - 2015Picture: © Agathe Poupeney / OnP</div>

This triptych spans ten years of creation (from 1986 to 1995) and bears witness to Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s remarkable dialogues with the great scores of classical music. The term “dialogue” is undoubtedly too tame to describe this almost physica

Quatuor n°4, Die grosse Fuge, Verklärte Nacht

In this piece specifically created for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1994, the choreographer Angelin Preljocaj finds a subtle balance between the classical genius of Mozart’s music and the modernity of his choreographic language.The perfectly chiselled sets evoke the elegance and refinement of a French‑style garden while the costumes draw inspiration from the Age of Enlightenment.Advancing to the caprices of an imaginary Carte du Tendre and guided by strange gardeners, the dancers awaken to love, from first encounters to seduction, from timidity to attraction, from resistance to the sweet appeal of abandon in sublimely soaring “pas de deux”.Even today, this timeless work continues to explore the codes of love and the way human feelings develop. With the Paris Opera Étoiles, Soloists and Corps de Ballet The Paris Opera OrchestraA co-production of the Paris Opera and Telmondis, with the participation of France Télévisions, Mezzo and medici.tv, and the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animée.© Opéra national de Paris – Telmondis - 2021 Director: Louise Narboni

Le Parc (saisin 20/21) - 12

Le Parc (saisin 20/21) - 11

Le Parc (saisin 20/21) - 5

Le Parc

In this piece specifically created for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1994, the choreographer Angelin Preljocaj finds a subtle balance between the classical genius of Mozart’s music and the modernity of his choreographic language.  The perfectly chiselled

Angelin Preljocaj

Created in 1997 for the Paris Opera Ballet, this work was born out of the painter Olivier Debré’s desire to paint a series of abstract tableaux: evocations of that primordial sign, the smile. Taking these flamboyant painted scenes as her starting point, representing different places in the world like so many different emotional states and humours, the choreographer Carolyn Carlson sets her dancers in motion to an original score by René Aubry and gives life to a dreamlike piece.A ballet that has since become a cult work in the Paris Opera repertoire, Signes embodies the links between painting, music and dance and extends them to the stage.The Étoiles, the Premières Danseuses, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de BalletWith the support of the Orange Foundation, sponsor of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts.© Opéra national de Paris - 2023 Picture: © Agathe Poupeney / OnP

230616-054BF_SIGNES_Carolyn Carlson_Awa Joannais Sofia Rosolini Victoire Anquetil (c) Benoîte Fanton OnP

BA_Signes

Signes

Created in 1997 for the Paris Opera Ballet, this work was born out of the painter Olivier Debré’s desire to paint a series of abstract tableaux: evocations of that primordial sign, the smile. Taking these flamboyant painted scenes as her starting poi

Carolyn Carlson

Four contemporary choreographers come together for a programme that leads the Opera’s dancers to a new form of modernity where bodies vibrate with intensity.To open the evening, James Thierrée takes over the public areas of the Palais Garnier and introduces us to his dream-like world. Canada’s Crystal Pite returns with The Seasons’ Canon, a dazzling creation that thrilled audiences at the Palais Garnier last season. Spain’s Iván Pérez occupies the stage of the Opera for the first time with a creation for ten male dancers. To conclude the evening, Israel’s Hofesh Shechter, often lauded for his telluric, trance-evoking dances, offers a new version of his piece The Art of Not Looking Back.

 Les Étoiles, les Premiers Danseurs et le Corps de Ballet

A co-production of the Paris Opera, BEL AIR MEDIA and ARTE France With the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirectors: Cédric Klapisch, Miguel Octave © Opéra national de Paris – Bel Air Media / France 2018Picture: © Agathe Poupeney / OnP

Soirée Thierrée / Shechter / Pérez / Pite

garnier-opa60 2

Performance of The Seasons' Canon by Noureyev at the Palais Garnier, from 23 September to 12 October 2023

Four contemporary choreographers come together for a programme that leads the Opera’s dancers to a new form of modernity where bodies vibrate with intensity. To open the evening, James Thierrée takes over the public areas of the Palais Garnier and in

Thierrée / Shechter / Pérez / Pite

Thierrée / Shechter / Pérez / Pite Evening

Inspired by L’Abbé Prévost’s legendary heroes, Kenneth MacMillan expresses his fascination for lost characters and dramatic subjects. The choreographer stays faithful to the novel’s plot and reconstructs the tragic story of the sensual yet naïve creature who is more victim than demiurge of her own fate.In Regency Paris, bourgeois society gorges itself on luxury and easy pleasures. Swept by this swirl, Manon can’t resist the temptations, dragging down with her her faithful lover Des Grieux.The choreographer structures his ballet on a mosaic of extracts by Massenet, choosing a music that brings drama, freshness and romance necessary to this great dance fresco. The crowd and ball scenes are followed by intimate, lively pas de deux, right up to the ballet’s sublime and tragic end.This recording was made during the farewell to the stage of the Dancer Etoile Aurélie Dupont. The Etoiles, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet The Paris Opera OrchestraA co-production of the Paris Opera, La Belle Télé and Mezzo With the participation of France Télévisions and the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Cédric Klapisch Co-director: Miguel Octave © Opéra national de Paris – La Belle Télé – Mezzo - 2015Visuel : © Anne Deniau / OnP

2014-15-MANON-251  (Dupont & Bollé) (c)Julien Benhamou-OnP

L'Histoire de Manon

Performance at the Palais Garnier, from 19 June to 15 July 2023

Inspired by L’Abbé Prévost’s legendary heroes, Kenneth MacMillan expresses his fascination for lost characters and dramatic subjects. The choreographer stays faithful to the novel’s plot and reconstructs the tragic story of the sensual yet naïve crea

Kenneth MacMillan

"I chose two classical ballets that I love, because the word 'classical' has something of the word 'eternal' in it. In any case, it's an idea of 

something timeless, something from the past that wouldn't age: Swan Lake and La Bayadère, with magnificent performers and beautiful productions.I chose 6 contemporary ballet programs: Body and Soul by Crystal Pite, Trisha Brown, 2 ballets by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Le Parc by Angelin Prejlocaj and Signes by Carolyn Carlson.And the two shows I directed... Thierrée / Shechter / Pérez / Pite Evening, because it marked my meeting with Hofesh Schechter and Marion Barbeau, who has been so important to me ever since... but also my discovery of Crystal Pite and her now mythical Seasons' Canon. And then, L'Histoire de Manon for Aurélie Dupont's farewell to the Opera, which was also an important moment for me. There was something particularly strong that was imprinted during this emotional evening."

Klapisch Cinetek partenaire POP - 1

Klapisch Cinetek partenaire POP - 5

"I chose two classical ballets that I love, because the word 'classical' has something of the word 'eternal' in it. In any case, it's an idea of 

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