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

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

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

Filled with eerie images on the border of reality and dream, Jiří Kylián's work blends oneirism and wry humour. Set to music by John Cage and Anton Webern, Stepping Stones pays tribute to the memory and heritage of dance. On stage, Egyptian cats are the guardians of tradition.Three new pieces by Kylián enter the Ballet's repertoire this season. Petite Mort poetically explores the double theme of death: the lesser one symbolising orgasm and the greater one that brings life to a close. Pas de deux and swordplay alternate against a backdrop of Mozart concertos.Sechs Tänze extends the Mozartian universe and caricatures it in a series of dances with a quirky sense of humour, while Gods and Dogs explores the borderline between normality and madness: when dogs become gods and vice versa. In a midnight blue light, the dancers perform in front of delicate strings that recall those of a Beethoven quartet. The Étoiles, the Premières Danseuses, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet Recorded music   Director: Floris Bernard Production exécutive BEL AIR MEDIA © Opéra national de Paris - 2023

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Stepping Stones (Jiri Kylian) © Icare - OnP 7924-7 2004

Jiří Kylián

Filled with eerie images on the border of reality and dream, Jiří Kylián's work blends oneirism and wry humour. Set to music by John Cage and Anton Webern, Stepping Stones pays tribute to the memory and heritage of dance. On stage, Egyptian cats are 

Stepping Stones, Gods and Dogs, Petite Mort, Sechs Tänze

Drawing on ancient Slavic and Norse mythology where destiny is often born out of the mysterious forces of nature, Swan Lake has become a legend in its own right. Tchaikovsky’s first ballet score is imbued with a deep sense of nostalgia, echoing the composer’s own experience of love as elusive as it was impossible.However the work remained misunderstood until 1895 when Marius Petipa undertook his own choreographic interpretation. With the help of Lev Ivanov, Petipa created majestic figures for the female corps de ballet and breathed life into the swan‑dancer.In Rudolf Nureyev’s “Freudian” version, conceived for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1984, Prince Siegfried, manipulated by the evil Rothbart, shuns the realities of power and marriage to take refuge in dreams where a magic lake symbolizing idealised love appears to him.Nureyev elevated the role of the prince to that of the heroine by giving him a deeper psychological dimension whilst opting to give this masterly action ballet a tragic denouement more in tune with its musical substance. The Etoiles, the Premiers Danseurs and the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet The Paris Opera OrchestraA co-production of the Paris National Opera and François Roussillon et Associés, with the participation of Medici.tv / MUSEEC, the support of the Orange Foundation, patron of the Paris National Opera's audiovisual broadcasts, and with the assistance of the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'image animée.Director: François Roussillon © Opéra national de Paris - François Roussillon et Associés - 2016Picture: © Svetlana Loboff / OnP

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Le Lac des cygnes

Swan Lake

Bastille salle

Performance at the Opera Bastille, from 21 June to 14 July 2024

Drawing on ancient Slavic and Norse mythology where destiny is often born out of the mysterious forces of nature, Swan Lake has become a legend in its own right. Tchaikovsky’s first ballet score is imbued with a deep sense of nostalgia, echoing the c

Swan Lake (2016)

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

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

Watch Étoile dancer Léonore Baulac online, in a selection of classical and contemporary ballets: Swan Lake (Odette/Odile) by Rudolf Nureyev, Body and Soul by Crystal Pite, La Bayadère (Gamzatti, act I) by Rudolf Nureyev, Swan Lake (Pas de trois) by Rudolf Nureyev, Petite Mort by Jiří Kylián and Verklärte Nacht by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.

Watch Étoile dancer Léonore Baulac online, in a selection of classical and contemporary ballets: Swan Lake (Odette/Odile) by Rudolf Nureyev, Body and 