In 1998, Karl Paquette bid farewell to the stage. Dancer and filmmaker Marie-Solenne Boulet was there to capture this pivotal moment on film. Seven years later, he has not given up dancing. Quite the opposite.Now a teacher at the Paris Opera and the choreographer of My First Ballet, the man who once embodied some of the greatest princes in the repertoire now devotes his experience and passion to passing on his art.Marie-Solenne meets him again to film this new chapter in his life, dedicated to guiding young dancers and sharing with them the secrets of an art he knows from the inside out. Director : Marie-Solenne Boulet © Opéra national de Paris – 2026

Karl Paquette Quitter la scène former la relève

Leaving the Stage, Shaping the Next Generation

fr / en

Leaving the Stage, Shaping the Next Generation 

25-26

In 1998, Karl Paquette bid farewell to the stage. Dancer and filmmaker Marie-Solenne Boulet was there to capture this pivotal moment on film. Seven years later, he has not given up dancing. Quite the opposite. Now a teacher at the Paris Opera and the

Marie-Solenne Boulet

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

L'Histoire de Manon_trailer

14-15

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

L'Histoire de Manon (2015)

Immerse yourself in a ballet evening at the Palais Garnier. A unique event, the sumptuous Ballet Défilé gathers the Étoiles, soloists and Corps de Ballet dancers and all the students of the Dance School. A dazzling spectacle unveiling the stage up to the Foyer de la danse. The Ballet School students take the spotlight with Ivan Clustine's Suite de danses, an homage to the French school infused with Russian influences from Fokine's Les Sylphides. Set to Chopin's music, the choreographic style born from Romanticism paves the way for 20th-century modernism.A virtuosic showcase of classical technique, Études invites the audience to follow the dancers' work at the barre in the shadows, culminating in a grand display with the entire corps de ballet in the spotlight.Finally, three dancers from the Opera Ballet present Aunis by Jacques Garnier, a ballet evoking the influences of folklore on classical dance. With the Paris Opera Étoiles, Soloists, Corps de Ballet and Ballet School The Paris Opera Orchestra conducted by Frédéric Laroque With the participation of France Télévisions, the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée and the Fondation Orange, sponsor of the Paris Opera's audiovisual and digital projects.Director: François Roussillon © Opéra national de Paris – 2014 Picture: © Sébastien Mathé / OnP

Etudes Harald Lander saison 14-15

Ballet Evening at the Palais Garnier_trailer

Ballet Evening at the Palais Garnier

The ballet is decked out in its finest jewels with Les Néréides

Jewels in Ballet with Les Néréides

Immerse yourself in a ballet evening at the Palais Garnier. A unique event, the sumptuous Ballet Défilé gathers the Étoiles, soloists and Corps de Ballet dancers and all the students of the Dance School. A dazzling spectacle unveiling the stage up to

Défilé / Études / Suite de danses / Aunis

Charles Perrault’s celebrated tale, set to music by Sergei Prokofiev, is transposed to a film set. In a series of references to the heroes of the American cinema, Rudolf Nureyev propels his Cinderella under the spotlights of Hollywood.With a producer for fairy godmother and a star actor as Prince Charming, she escapes her miserable destiny and sees her dreams come true in a story not without similarities with that of the choreographer, the young Tartar who became an international star.With this “ballet‑metaphor”, the Company pays tribute to its former director Rudolf Nureyev. A great production that celebrates the opening of the Paris Opera’s anniversary year. The Paris Opera Étoiles, Premiers Danseurs and Corps de Ballet Pasdeloup OrchestraAn Arte France, Paris Opera, Bel Air Media coproduction with the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée and the Orange Foundation, patron of audiovisual broadcasts by the Paris Opera© Opéra national de Paris - ARTE France - BEL AIR MEDIA – 2018 Picture: © Yonathan Kellerman / OnP

2018-19-CENDRILLON Valentine Colasante (c) Yonathan Kellerman-Onp

2018-19-CENDR-021 (c) Yonathan Kellerman-Onp

Cinderella_trailer

Cinderella

The ballet is decked out in its finest jewels with Les Néréides

Charles Perrault’s celebrated tale, set to music by Sergei Prokofiev, is transposed to a film set. In a series of references to the heroes of the American cinema, Rudolf Nureyev propels his Cinderella under the spotlights of Hollywood. With a produce

Rudolf Nureyev

A legendary and fantastical Persia becomes the backdrop of the thwarted love triangle uniting the hunter Djémil, the beautiful Nouredda - engaged to the Khan- and Naïla, the water sprite.In his first creation for the Paris Opera Ballet, Etoile dancer Jean-Guillaume Bart revived an almost-forgotten ballet of the repertoire, originally premiered in 1866 at the Paris Opera.In a close collaboration with playwright Clément Hervieu-Léger, Jean-Guillaume Bart gave back to La Source its original freshness.He created a wonderful danced tale, poetic and virtuosic, enhanced by Christian Lacroix’s flamboyant costumes and Eric Ruf’s evocative stage set. The Etoiles, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet The Paris Opera OrchestraA co-production of the Paris National Opera - François Roussillon et Associés - 2011 With the participation of France Télévisions, the support of the CNC and the Orange Foundation, sponsor of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts.Director: François RoussillonPicture: © Anne Deniau / OnP

2014-15-SOURC-091

La Source 

La Source_trailer

La Source

26-27

A legendary and fantastical Persia becomes the backdrop of the thwarted love triangle uniting the hunter Djémil, the beautiful Nouredda - engaged to the Khan- and Naïla, the water sprite. In his first creation for the Paris Opera Ballet, Etoile dance

Jean-Guillaume Bart

Long reputed difficult – if not impossible- to dance, Gustav Mahler’s music has inspired many artists since the 1960s. Kenneth MacMillan, Maurice Béjart, Pina Bausch, Jiří Kylián and Maguy Marin have successfully tackled this challenge. But one name will undoubtedly remain attached to the musician’s: John Neumeier, who explored about ten of Mahler’s works.Created in 1975 in Hamburg, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 entered the Paris Opera’s repertoire in 2009.What seems today obvious was, back then, perceived as an audacious, even bold choice, a crazy and disturbing ambition: few were the choreographers, apart from Maurice Béjart with the Symphony No. 9, who dared to create a choreography on symphonic music.And choosing Mahler’s work, considered to be even harder to apprehend than Beethoven’s, could imply an unusual attraction for complexity. But the result belied the ominous critics, and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 was an immediate (and lasting) success. The Etoiles, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet The Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine / Chœur d’enfants de l’Opéra national de ParisA co-production Paris Opera Production and CLC Productions With the participation of France Télévisions, the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the assistance of the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Thomas Grimm © Opéra de Paris Production - CLC Productions 2013 Picture: © Christian Leiber / OnP

La Troisième Symphonie de Gustav Mahler

La Troisième Symphonie de Gustav Mahler_trailer

La Troisième Symphonie De Gustav Mahler

Long reputed difficult – if not impossible- to dance, Gustav Mahler’s music has inspired many artists since the 1960s. Kenneth MacMillan, Maurice Béjart, Pina Bausch, Jiří Kylián and Maguy Marin have successfully tackled this challenge. But one name 

John Neumeier

A comic yet tragic universal figure lost in his own world and out of place in the world of his contemporaries, ridiculous yet imposing, admirable yet pitiful, Don Quixote knows neither deceitfulness, abnegation, nor betrayal. The loss of his ideals and the surrender of principles: this was the death of Don Quixote.From the 17th century onwards, the character has inspired numerous avatars, not just literary ones, but in the fields of music and dance too. Their authors only had to draw from the abundance of episodes in the Cervantes novel—a veritable catalogue of adventures and anecdotes—which never fails to provide subject matter for artists short on inspiration.During the 19th century, all of Spain became a source of artistic creativity, almost to the point of cliché. Harsh, noble or picturesque, the work offers the best of itself through Mérimée’s pen, Bizet’s baton or Edouard Manet’s brush.With Marius Petipa, it gave rise to several ballets, including the famous Don Quixote. In Moscow and then Saint Petersburg, it was the same resounding success in successive adaptations by Petipa himself or by Alexander Gorski.The episode from the novel retained by the choreographer, the wedding of Kitri and Basil, paints the happiest aspect of the story. The shimmering colours and the character dances, together with the whirlwind of gypsies and beautiful Andalusian girls, were a huge success with audiences, won over as much by the new choreographic style as by the Iberian exoticism.In the following century, a young dancer by the name of Rudolf Nureyev would himself triumph in the very ballet that made the the Russian School famous. His memories of the work would accompany him to France where he revived it. In 1966, Nureyev staged his version of Don Quixote for the Vienna Opera Ballet, before revising it for its entry into the repertoire of the Paris Opera in 1981.Since then, the Knight of the sad face has never really left the stage of the Opera. Presented since 2002 with new sets and costumes inspired by the paintings of Goya, each of its appearances enjoys the same endlessly renewed triumph. The Etoiles, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet The Paris Opera OrchestraA co-production of Opéra de Paris Production, ARTE France and François Roussillon et Associés with the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and the assistance of the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée.Director: François Roussillon © 2012 – Opéra national de Paris production – ARTE France – François Roussillon et AssociésPicture: © Julien Benhamou / OnP

<ul><li>Kitri: Lorenzo’s daughter, in love with Basilio but betrothed to Gamache</li><li>Basilio: Penniless barber, in love with Kitri</li><li>Don Quixote: Knight errant who sets out to conquer the world</li><li>Camacho: Rich peasant, betrothed to Kitri</li><li>Lorenzo: Innkeeper, Kitri’s father</li><li>Sancho Panza: Don Quichotte’s loyal squire</li><li>The Queen of the Dryads: Nymph and guardian of the forests</li></ul>

Don Quichotte

Don Quichotte_trailer

A comic yet tragic universal figure lost in his own world and out of place in the world of his contemporaries, ridiculous yet imposing, admirable yet pitiful, Don Quixote knows neither deceitfulness, abnegation, nor betrayal. The loss of his ideals a

Don Quixote (2012)

Numerous choreographers have delved into Shakespeare to find dramatic material for their ballets, beginning with Jean-Georges Noverre, an ardent defender of the “action ballet” and Marius Petipa, who was the first to use Mendelssohn’s stage music. George Balanchine, who also loved the score, would prove no exception.In 1962 he created his version of Shakespeare’s comedy for New York City Ballet. Faithful to the Bard’s vocabulary whilst adding a subtle touch of pantomime, he portrays a complex love story in two acts and six scenes.Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, become caught up in a domestic quarrel between the king of the elves and the queen of the fairies which results in the intervention of the mischievous Puck and his magic potion along with a troupe of amateur actors. The denouement is celebrated in the form of a grand virtuoso entertainment.One of George Balanchine’s rare narrative ballets, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is entering the Paris Opera Ballet’s repertoire. The sets and costumes for this production have been designed by another magician of the stage, Christian Lacroix. The Étoiles, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet, with the participation of the Paris Opera Ballet School students Paris Opera Orchestra and ChorusA co-production of Opéra national de Paris and Telmondis With the participation of France Télévisions, NHK With the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts And with the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée.Director: Vincent Bataillon © Opéra national de Paris - Telmondis - 2017Picture: © Agathe Poupeney / OnP

<ul><li>Titania: Queen of the Fairies</li><li>Oberon: King of the Fairies</li><li>Hermia: In love with Lysander</li><li>Lysander: Beloved of Hermia</li><li>Helena: In love with Demetrius</li><li>Demetrius: Suitor to Hermia</li><li>Hippolyta: Queen of the Amazons</li><li>Theseus: Duke of Athens</li><li>Bottom</li><li>A weaver  </li><li>Puck</li><li>The first Butterfly</li><li>Divertissement’s Principals</li></ul>

Le songe d'une nuit d'été

A Midsummer Night's Dream_trailer

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Numerous choreographers have delved into Shakespeare to find dramatic material for their ballets, beginning with Jean-Georges Noverre, an ardent defender of the “action ballet” and Marius Petipa, who was the first to use Mendelssohn’s stage music. Ge

George Balanchine

Both similar and different, two French composers and two choreographers of the New York City Ballet – Georges Balanchine who founded it and Benjamin Millepied who was trained there- are the heart of this evening.Georges Balanchine set his first creation for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1947 to an early work by Bizet, Le Palais de cristal, as a tribute to the company and the French ballet tradition.A refine work intrinsically connected to music, this piece is a model of academic virtuosity, unfolding in the wonderful case designed by an artist of colours and lights, Christian Lacroix.With Daphnis and Chloe, Benjamin Millepied offered his third creation to the Paris Opera Ballet, reviving the myth with the help of his friend Daniel Buren.Inspired by Balanchine, the choreographer drew his inspiration on the rhythms and colours of a “chorographical symphony” by Ravel for orchestra and chorus.These masterpieces of French music are conducted by Philippe Jordan who accompanies, for the first time, the dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet. The Étoiles, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet The Paris Opera Orchestra and ChorusA co-production of the Paris Opera, Telmondis and Mezzo With the participation of France Télévisions - 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 animéeDirector: François Goetghebeur © Opéra national de Paris – Telmondis - Mezzo - 2014Picture: © Agathe Poupeney / OnP

Daphnis et Chloé - 17

George Balanchine / Benjamin Millepied Evening_trailer

George Balanchine / Benjamin Millepied Evening

Both similar and different, two French composers and two choreographers of the New York City Ballet – Georges Balanchine who founded it and Benjamin Millepied who was trained there- are the heart of this evening. Georges Balanchine set his first crea

George Balanchine, Benjamin Millepied

Le Palais de Cristal / Daphnis et Chloé

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>

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker_trailer

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

"I like creating worlds that have never been seen before." - Alexander Ekman A sparkling personality on the contemporary dance scene, Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman has been invited for the first time to work with the dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet.Trained at the Swedish Royal Ballet, he danced with the Nederlands Dans Theater and the Ballet Cullberg before turning to choreography. His language, both visceral and tinged with humour, combines theatricality and classical and contemporary vocabulary alike.Best known for the spectacular quality of his pieces with their dreamlike imagery, he fills the stage of the Palais Garnier with metallic structures, dancers suspended in space, elevations… A surprising production carried along by enticing rhythms and communicative energy. The Étoiles, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet Voice of Alan Watts from recordings on the Tao of Philosophy courtesy of alanwatts.orgA production of the Paris Opera, Bel Airt Média and SVT With the participation of France Télévisions and the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animéeDirector: Tommy Pascal © Opéra national de Paris - Bel Air Media - SVT - 2018Picture: © Ann Ray / OnP

Play | Opéra chez soi

Play_trailer

Play

"I like creating worlds that have never been seen before."- Alexander EkmanA sparkling personality on the contemporary dance scene, Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman has been invited for the first time to work with the dancers of the Paris Opera 

Alexander Ekman

What can video contribute to choreography? Can the camera itself become choreographic, making dance more visceral? These are some of the questions underlying Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple’s artistic research. In Empreintes, the two British choreographers make their Paris Opera debut with a creation exploring the links between video and dance, set to an original score by Mikael Karlsson, composer of Play. Spanish choreographer Marcos Morau is also sensitive to the arts’ interdisciplinary dimension, often using a language that combines movement and image. His new work, Étude, explores the relationship between darkness and light, the light that allows us to imagine and create, despite doubts and shadows.

Arena (saison 25/26) - Loup Marcault-Derouard

ARENA_260309_YKellerman_PG0055_Morgann Runacre-Temple, Jessica Wright_Loup Marcault-Derouard (c) Yonathan Kellerman OnP

Impressions

Empreintes_VI

What can video contribute to choreography? Can the camera itself become choreographic, making dance more visceral? These are some of the questions underlying Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple’s artistic research.In Empreintes, the two British

Morgann Runacre-Temple, Jessica‎ Wright / Marcos Morau

<div><div></div><div><div>At the end of the performance of Rudolf Nureyev’s The Nutcracker on 31 December 2009, he was named an Étoile.Since then, he has added the following roles and works to his repertoire: Le Palais de cristal, Duo Concertant, Violin Concerto, Le Cavalier de Titania and the Divertissement in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Valse (Balanchine), A-bras-le-corps (Charmatz), the title role in Onegin (Cranko), Die Grosse Fuge and Verklärte Nacht (De Keersmaeker), Études (Lander), Hippolytus in Phèdre (Lifar), Armand in The Lady of the Camellias (Neumeier), Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (Nureyev), Don José in Carmen, Quasimodo in Notre-Dame de Paris (Petit), Le Parc (Preljocaj), Dances at a Gathering (Robbins) and Polyphonia (Wheeldon).On Monday, 31 December 2018, at 7.30 pm at the Opéra Bastille, Étoile dancer Karl Paquette gave his official farewell to the stage of the Paris Opera in Rudolf Nureyev’s Cinderella, in which he performed the role of the Leading Actor alongside Valentine Colasante as Cinderella.</div></div></div>

Thématique POP - 4

At the end of the performance of Rudolf Nureyev’s The Nutcracker on 31 December 2009, he was named an Étoile. Since then, he has added the following r