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Aurelie Dupont


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Dupont is scheduled to give two more performances of the ballet in Tokyo in March. Agnès Letestu is also scheduled to give her last POB performance there, just as Clairemarie Osta gave her final performance on tour in New York rather than in Paris.

http://www.nbs.or.jp/english/contents/schedule/ballet-de-lopera-national-de-paris-la-dame-aux-camelias/

I know from interviews with dancers that the Japanese balletomanes are quite adoring, but respectful - kind of the perfect mix. And I'm reminded that Danilova chose to retire on the road in Tokyo. The Japanese audiences make the dancers feel good about themselves, and at the end, that's what you want. ;)

It's an interesting phenomenon. You would think they would rather give their final performances for their home audience, which would naturally have the strongest sense of attachment to these dancers. I saw Osta's last Giselle, and while the response of the audience was very warm, I'm sure it was only a pale reflection of the send-off she had received in Paris. It was certainly less animated than some of the farewells of New York-based dancers that I'd seen.

Nevertheless, I'm sure the tour will be very emotional for everyone--dancers and audience.

There is of course a 'last performance' at the Palais Garnier, although it may not factually be the last time the dancer performs as an étoile. Experiencing a number of 'last' shows may make it more enjoyable and less heart-breaking.

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I certainly never meant to imply that Japanese balletomanes are anything less than adoring and respectful. They tend to be pretty enthusiastic in New York, too. I'm sure that many people who attended Osta's final performance were seeing her for the first and last time, so naturally they would have had relatively little emotional investment in the occasion. After all, the POB had not visited New York in ages, and local audiences were discovering several generations of its dancers at the same time. Tokyo is different because the POB and its individual dancers have visited more regularly, so I don't doubt that Dupont, Letestu and Ciaravola all have devoted fans there.

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From Dupont's interview with Gia Kourlas:

"Kourlas: How do you prepare for your retirement, as you say, a little bit every day?
Aurélie Dupont:
One way is to focus on all the people that I see every day—dancers, teachers, the guys who work in the wings, the women who do my costumes. I have small moments with those people, and I just think, live it in a strong way, because one day you won’t have this anymore. One day, you will go back to the stage door and somebody will ask you your name."

That's worth adding to Quotable Quotes...

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Does anyone know what Aurelie is dancing in for the 2014/15 season, Manon is very late way past January when it is her birthday In which she stated she would make her final performance, after Le Parc earlier, she did say she would not have much to do, Maybe Anatomies de la Sensation, Wayne Mc Gregor, and working with Benjamin Millipede new ballet. With the POB hopeless casting release procedure it is very difficult to arrange every thing so late. Thank you for any information.

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Does anyone know what Aurelie is dancing in for the 2014/15 season, Manon is very late way past January when it is her birthday In which she stated she would make her final performance, after Le Parc earlier, she did say she would not have much to do, Maybe Anatomies de la Sensation, Wayne Mc Gregor, and working with Benjamin Millipede new ballet. With the POB hopeless casting release procedure it is very difficult to arrange every thing so late. Thank you for any information.

On the French forums they are still saying she will retire with Manon. I think Lefevre even stated that during the presentation of the new season.

I wonder if perhaps Manon was originally penciled in for earlier in the season, and was then pushed back for some reason?

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I did try to go to see Robbins/Ratmansky but the distribution only appeared on the 18th as the run opened on the 19th !!!! Which meant there was no chance for getting onto Eurostar. Actually in the end it was for the best as Aurelie only danced for a very short time in the end of Daces at the gathering.. It was hardly worth her being in the theatre for. I did actually get to see the performance that was broadcast on my computer, I wonder if Aurelie is okay as she has withdrawn recently from distributions, I wondered if she was injured again. I cannot help thinking if she will manage to perform a full evening with Manon in 2015.

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It is a little peculiar that Dupont is not appearing in Ratmansky's Psyche given that she danced in the premiere three years ago. But none of the original pairs is appearing in the revival. Osta has retired, Gilbert has recently given birth, Dupont and Ganio are occupied in Dances, Bullion was preparing for (his first?) Quasimodo, and Pech, presumably, is unavailable.

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Aurelie did say she was giving the younger dancers a chance now, referring to Sleeping Beauty, as she did not feel she could give a acceptable standard of performance now, and that was not fair to an audience. I can see her point that it is in fact a mammoth task and must be very stressful. When you think of how Margot Fonteyn had to carry on to pay her husbands medical bills, it makes you realise the sacrifice that is made by stars without the security that POB enjoys.

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Aurelie did say she was giving the younger dancers a chance now

Well, I don't think that's quite what happened in the case of Psyche. Most of the performances went to Laëtitia Pujol, who is in her late 30s. The two performances scheduled for Diana Vishneva most certainly do not constitute an opportunity for other POB dancers, whatever their age. But I am happy for Charline Giezendanner, who has been dancing with the company for about a dozen years and hasn't had as many chances to dance leading roles as she deserves.

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I certainly think you have a point there, it kind of maybe? suggests the point of injury, as the distributions were so very late in coming out, (the day before the run started). It seems strange to tag a guest artist on right at the end for such a small number of performances. Is the POB getting short of Etoile's to be able to maintain their own personnel' Or just is it due to the changeover of Artistic Director?

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Dupont's last Manon was beamed into cinemas in France and a smattering of other countries. It's scheduled for television broadcast on May 30, though we'll have to see whether or not the Culturebox stream will be geo-blocked.

http://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/live/danse/danse-classique/les-adieux-daurelie-dupont-a-lopera-garnier-218695

The POB's Instragram account features some photos of her last days as a performing member of the company.

https://instagram.com/balletoperadeparis/

The POB web site also posted photos of the curtain calls and post-show reception.
http://www.operadeparis.fr/blogopera/les-adieux-d-aurelie-dupont-0

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Dupont's last Manon was beamed into cinemas in France and a smattering of other countries. It's scheduled for television broadcast on May 30, though we'll have to see whether or not the Culturebox stream will be geo-blocked.

http://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/live/danse/danse-classique/les-adieux-daurelie-dupont-a-lopera-garnier-218695

The Manon stream is geo-blocked, although my VPN service is able to circumvent it. A novelty of the stream is that Culturebox is offering a split-screen option, with the filmed performance on the left, and real-time backstage shots on the right. For now I'm sticking to the audience view, but afterward I may give the backstage version a whirl, all two hours and seven minutes of it.

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