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The Millepied Era at the Paris Opera Ballet


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I have said it before, in an era of cuts arts leaders must constantly prove there are creatives who couldn't otherwise make art without the support of a subsidised arts organisation. Of course Alexei Ratmansky couldn't create a new ballet without the help of a ballet company, but he is everywhere so he doesn't *need* the POB. Call it leftwing, whatever, but arts funding shouldn't be accessible only to a select few priviliged individuals who aren't strapped of opportunities, and that is exactly what companies like the POB and the Royal Ballet are doing - excluding. I could also accuse Millepied of wasting public cash on his mates (Forsythe, Peck, Wheeldon...). I'm sure insiders could too - Toulouse is doing much more with fewer dancers and a tiny budget, so they don't need to look far to see the possibilities.

Sharing resources is partly why I imagine Brigitte Lefevre, along with her extreme diplomacy towards opera directors who didn't like classical or neoclassical ballet, managed 19 years. With the current Minister of Culture in France promoting innovation and using public subsidies - what major arts orgs receive included - to support a wider circle of creatives, I wonder how she feels about the Paris Opera's current direction. It will be interesting to see what happens after the election as well because as we know, ballet in France all depends on whether the Government thinks it's too dated and middle class or not.

I'm less concerned about technique because the POB usually do their own thing with choreography, but along with poor spending of public arts funding, I am concerned with reportory, identity and the dancers. The POB's rep is incredibly rich and to see it shaved down to Nureyev, Bejart, Petit and when he was lucky, Lacotte, was sad enough under Lefevre's final few seasons, and we're in a situation now where it's just Nureyev's productions. Do not mistake what I say as a ban on transferring productions, I think it is great to give those who can't travel the opportunity to see newer or rarer things, but there should be a limit and it should be done in a manner which doesn't sacrifice branding. I also don't see why abstract ballets wouldn't be a cost effective way to try profiting from touring more often anyway? (Edit: to clarify, is transferring the best option or is touring?)

With regards to the dancers, it's the POB. They've had some really amazing opportunities (or at least some of them) to take on things outside of their comfort zone and traditions. Are they really OK with working with the same faces everybody else is working with until Millepied leaves? Dancers are artists and people too and it is completely obnoxious and disrespectful to believe if they had a choice, they wouldn't take the opportunity to do things their peers aren't.

Whew! Super long post and I didn't even get onto the concours. No to a dual promotions system, Millepied already has his favourites and ain't any better than Lefevre in that regard :-).

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added: Ratmansky already has an ongoing working relationship with Paris Opera Ballet with "Psyche" and "Lost Illusions" (which you don't really think of being performed anywhere else) – so Millepied is not introducing a new element there.

Under the Choreographic Trends thread Sandik comments that there have always been a small group of dominating choreographers in ballet.

And narrow reactions – the post WWI Diaghilev ballets had a Massine look, no more Fokine – Danilova said that for the dancers Fokine was the past. And with Apollo Stravinsky purged his music of all the pre-war orchestral color.

Willl they be doing Cunningham? – they did once before I believe.

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added: Ratmansky already has an ongoing working relationship with Paris Opera Ballet with "Psyche" and "Lost Illusions" (which you don't really think of being performed anywhere else) – so Millepied is not introducing a new element there.

The POB has not performed Lost Illusions. In early 2014 the Bolshoi came to Paris for a week to perform it.

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Merce Cunningham made Un Jour ou deux for the POB in 1973. They've revived it twice -- in 1986 and 2012.

I have no problem at all with them keeping it in repertory as "Cunningham at the Opera" was a big part of their history.

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The POB has not performed Lost Illusions. In early 2014 the Bolshoi came to Paris for a week to perform it.

Thanks ... I somehow thought that given it was Balzac and a model for Proust, it was a POB production.

No, I understand the anxiety about losing the company identity and the history of loss of the Ashton rep in England - but can Millepied's tastes and choreography have the impact in Paris that MacMillan's had at the Royal? etc

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Under the Choreographic Trends thread Sandik comments that there have always been a small group of dominating choreographers in ballet.

And narrow reactions the post WWI Diaghilev ballets had a Massine look, no more Fokine Danilova said that for the dancers Fokine was the past. And with Apollo Stravinsky purged his music of all the pre-war orchestral color..

Sure, but I'm not sure why, when there is increasing pressure on all subsidised mixed rep majort arts orgs to support as wide a circle of artists as possible, both amongst critics, the public and the Governments, ballet gets a get of jail free card because of its history. Funding is drying up and there are ethics now which weren't there then.
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can Millepied's tastes and choreography have the impact in Paris that MacMillan's had at the Royal? etc

I think so. Dances are fragile things -- more so than paintings or books or musical scores. If they're not performed regularly, then the proper technical basis and style become harder and harder to recapture. It's not impossible, as what is going on in Sarasota proves. But it concerns me when Millepied blithely says that the future POB can reclaim the jettisoned heritage dances after he's gone. If he lasts for a while as director, there's no guarantee there will be anyone around after he goes to reclaim the lost dances as living things.

I would hate to see Lifar disappear at the Opera. I would hate to see the Lacotte reconstructions disappear at the Opera. I would hate to see Nureyev disappear at the Opera. I would hate to see Ashton's La Fille mal gardee disappear at the Opera. But they might because I don't think Millepied has any experience with, or appreciation for, these choreographers and their works.

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This review of the POB in "Swan Lake" by Patricia Boccadoro for Culturekiosque has some comments on the casting.

This series of Swan Lake, the quintessential ballet of the classical repertoire set to Tchaikovski’s sublime score, brought to the fore a new generation of "Millepied dancers", for subsequent casts programmed several young hopefuls from the corps de ballet who had never interpreted the role of the Swan Princess before. This is seemingly part of Millepied’s policy to deviate from the hierarchy system by casting unknown dancers in main roles as soon as he considers them ready and should, he believes, encourage a more acute sense of competition comparable to that prevalent in American companies. But while one can applaud this policy to a certain extent, one can only deplore the absence of all the étoiles, the accomplished ballerinas one expected to see. Park replaced an injured Ludmila Pagliero, but were they ALL injured? Were they all dancing elsewhere? Where were Aurélie Dupont, Emilie Cozette, Myriam Ould-Brahim, Amandine Albisson, Laetitia Pujol and Dorothée Gilbert? Rudolf Nureyev was all for giving chances to the next generation, but not entirely at the expense of those who have already proved their worth. Technical brilliance is well and good, but not without artistic interpretation.

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I think it's more complicated... in both cases... This season, there was a lot of injuries and maternity leaves so that's probably why we had uneven casts. In addition, there was Neumeier Song of the Earth creation just before that required a lot of top dancers (with no reason up to me).

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Which of the dancers could be considered part of the 'Millepied generation' though? There is Leonora Boulac, who isn't receiving great reviews from balletomones lately, her Paquita in particular. Dancers like Park, Alu, O'Neill, Bourdon and Marchand were already on their way to more regular casting, which should be credited to Laurent Hilaire, who pushed for a shake up of distributions when he succeeded Patrice Bart - Myriam Ould-Braham being his biggest success here.

I haven't heard much of Juliette Hilaire, Aubane Philbert and Charline Giezendanner? Maybe not suited for principal roles but they've shone in soloist roles in the past. Eve Grinsztajn's widely regarded as the company's finest dancer-actor today and had some success under Brigitte Lefevre, but doesn't seem to be getting much luck under Millepied.

I'm not surprised there is some discussion amongst balletomones or critics about the lack of dancers in the upper ranks being cast though. The revival of Forsythe's In The Middle was met with the same heavy criticism for casting a young generation. Perhaps the same pricing cast to cast doesn't help, or the most popular nights with balletomones going to so-called 'unknowns', but would there not be more value in pairing the younger dancers with etoiles and premiers anyway? You'd learn a lot more, surely?

With regards to Neumeier, do we know if he did the casting beforehand with Lefevre? She had a habit of casting too many etoiles in new works.

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Well many questions smile.png , not sure I can really have a fair view on all of these points. It is certain however Léonore Baulac is Millepied's favorite by far given her capacity but Hannah O'Neill and Sae Eun Park are definitely among Millepied's dancers, if not "his generation" and Marchand and Louvet, in a lesser extent Bittencourt and Marc Moreau ... Marc Moreau and Bourdon were already singled out before though. The more experience "sujets" are confined to pas de trois which may indicate they are not trusted for principal roles...

I'm not sure what is happening to Alu and Grinsztajn who are not casted as the other Premiers danseurs... Certainly they are specific and can't dance everything but there must be something we don't know because it was the case before Millepied as well... Alu is young but Grinsztajn is Première danseuse since 2007 I think. What of Valentine Colasante as well who danced a lot but always second roles?

About Neumeier, I don't really know but Etoiles want to create new works. Gilbert asked clearly for it in the documentary of Brigitte Lefevre farewell and that's probably why she didn't dance Swan Lake...

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Eve Grinsztajn's widely regarded as the company's finest dancer-actor today and had some success under Brigitte Lefevre, but doesn't seem to be getting much luck under Millepied.

Grinsztajn is precisely the kind of dancer who will have a hard time of it under Millepied. I can't picture what her repertory will be in 2015-16. (I could say the same thing for a lot of the older etoiles and premiers, though.)

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Did POB ever give an explanation for why Dupont was removed from Swan Lake?

I have to admit, I was extremely disappointed that that happened.

Even though Hannah O'Neill ended up being very good, I paid 135 euro to see Dupont (which as a student is a significant expense).

In the end, I never got the opportunity to see Dupont danse live.

As for Léonore Baulac, I saw her in Nutcracker last year and really enjoyed it.

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Did POB ever give an explanation for why Dupont was removed from Swan Lake?

I have to admit, I was extremely disappointed that that happened.

Even though Hannah O'Neill ended up being very good, I paid 135 euro to see Dupont (which as a student is a significant expense).

In the end, I never got the opportunity to see Dupont danse live.

As for Léonore Baulac, I saw her in Nutcracker last year and really enjoyed it.

The POB did not give an official reason about why Dupont was removed.

It seems that Millepied is still carving out his generation, of whom O'Neill, Baulac, Hecquet, Loup-Quer, Marchand, and Louvet are all part. Although these are certainly talented dancers by any regard, I hope this does not leave a generation of slightly older but talented dancers aside. It will depend a lot on whether Millepied continues to program like the NYCB.

On that note, I grew up with Balanchine but much prefer the French style in romantic roles. Every time they do Balanchine or Robbins, it just doesn't look right. Many of the French dancers with Paris training have a hard time adapting to the speed and angularity of the choreography, whereas the foreigners (O'Neill, Park, Viikinkoski, etc.) usually have training, often Russian influenced, that lends more to the 20th century American neoclassical tradition.

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The POB did not give an official reason about why Dupont was removed.

It seems that Millepied is still carving out his generation, of whom O'Neill, Baulac, Hecquet, Loup-Quer, Marchand, and Louvet are all part. Although these are certainly talented dancers by any regard, I hope this does not leave a generation of slightly older but talented dancers aside. It will depend a lot on whether Millepied continues to program like the NYCB.

On that note, I grew up with Balanchine but much prefer the French style in romantic roles. Every time they do Balanchine or Robbins, it just doesn't look right. Many of the French dancers with Paris training have a hard time adapting to the speed and angularity of the choreography, whereas the foreigners (O'Neill, Park, Viikinkoski, etc.) usually have training, often Russian influenced, that lends more to the 20th century American neoclassical tradition.

I'm suprised that Dupont was cast in anything besides the Manon farewell - I thought it was understood that she was retired at this point, and only the farewell performance was left to do (and that was placed at the end of the Spring season).

"Many of the French dancers with Paris training have a hard time adapting to the speed and angularity of the choreography"

My take on this situation is that Millepied definitely plans to alter the POB's training enough that they are able to be more comfortable, more natural, in something like a Balanchine or Robbins ballet. But that doesn't have to mean losing the native POB's aesthetic. But the dancers will have to stretch themselves to dance in more ways than before. The etoiles would be under even more pressure to learn new things.

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Well there was no so many ballets in which Dupont could dance this year, that is the reason. She was announced a time on the Rigal creation but I guess she withdrew when she saw what is was biggrin.png

She perhaps will dance in the McGregor in July but this ballet is not fit for a farewell

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"Many of the French dancers with Paris training have a hard time adapting to the speed and angularity of the choreography"

My take on this situation is that Millepied definitely plans to alter the POB's training enough that they are able to be more comfortable, more natural, in something like a Balanchine or Robbins ballet. But that doesn't have to mean losing the native POB's aesthetic. But the dancers will have to stretch themselves to dance in more ways than before. The etoiles would be under even more pressure to learn new things.

"I'm suprised that Dupont was cast in anything besides the Manon farewell - I thought it was understood that she was retired at this point, and only the farewell performance was left to do (and that was placed at the end of the Spring season)."

It's not uncommon at POB. Agnes Letestu danced the second movement in Palais de Cristal/Symphony in C in Spring 2014 after retiring officially during the run of La Dame aux Camelias in Fall 2013.

As for Millepied modifying the training, we'll see what Elizabeth Platel has to say about that. She runs the show until the dancers integrate in the company, and interviews in the French media make it clear there is no love lost between Platel and Millepied. It seems counterproductive to school the dancers (95% of whom come from the Paris Opera Ballet School) in an asthetic that Millepied is going to try to change as soon as they start their professional careers or for Millepied to try to turn them all into Balanchine dancers.

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I can't picture Elisabeth Platel acquiescing to Millepied over the matter of the school's training. From her standpoint, why change the unique French take on ballet technique and make it an imitation of another company's take on technique? For that matter, why change everything to placate someone who may not be around in five years time?

The etoiles would be under even more pressure to learn new things.

This is something that the dancers at the POB have already complained about. The demands of the repertory they had to dance under Madame Lefevre -- Giselle, Lifar, the Nureyev versions of the classics, the Lacotte reconstructions, a flood tide of contemporary dance -- were already strenuous enough. Now, Milliepied wants to superimpose this New York City Ballet repertory on top of all this. Something (or multiple somethings) will have to go. So, say goodbye to Lifar and the Nureyev productions and the Lacotte reconstructions. (I don't think even Millepied would be foolhardy enough to ditch Giselle.)

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This is something that the dancers at the POB have already complained about. The demands of the repertory they had to dance under Madame Lefevre -- Giselle, Lifar, the Nureyev versions of the classics, the Lacotte reconstructions, a flood tide of contemporary dance -- were already strenuous enough. Now, Milliepied wants to superimpose this New York City Ballet repertory on top of all this. Something (or multiple somethings) will have to go. So, say goodbye to Lifar and the Nureyev productions and the Lacotte reconstructions. (I don't think even Millepied would be foolhardy enough to ditch Giselle.)

Which is really unfortunate. Plenty of companies do Balanchine well already (the POB is not one of them), but who can do with Suite en Blanc with the same panache as the French? I'm sorry to see Lifar (and Béjart, Petit, Lacotte, etc.) go, to be replaced by the who's who's of 21st century ballet at all of the other major companies.

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Well Millepied has some ideas but will he have the means to impose them to dancers? I have already the feeling through a couple of interviews he has done recently that he is a bit less optimistic on the changes he could do...

As for Balanchine and Robbins, I believe this is not the kind of ballets the grown up dancers, and especially the Etoiles, like to do. It will be interested to see if they play the game or not happy.png

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As for Balanchine and Robbins, I believe this is not the kind of ballets the grown up dancers, and especially the Etoiles, like to do. It will be interested to see if they play the game or not

The dancers who are in their last half dozen or so years of activity at the POB may just ride it out to retirement. But for the cohort that's in, say, the 27-35 age range, they may have to make some hard decisions. Given the kind of repertory Millepied likes and given the subset of younger dancers he's favoring, they may ask themselves, "What is there for me?" Do I stick around and get paid to not dance very much?? Or, do I follow Mathilde Froustey out the door and find other opportunities??

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Well Millepied has some ideas but will he have the means to impose them to dancers? I have already the feeling through a couple of interviews he has done recently that he is a bit less optimistic on the changes he could do...

As for Balanchine and Robbins, I believe this is not the kind of ballets the grown up dancers, and especially the Etoiles, like to do. It will be interested to see if they play the game or not happy.png

Like you, I don't think Millepied is as optimistic about change as some people think. But he will push for his preferences. And the older dancers will, of course, have their own preferences for programming. But one would expect a professional to perform, and not 'sit on the bench'.

The dancers who are in their last half dozen or so years of activity at the POB may just ride it out to retirement. But for the cohort that's in, say, the 27-35 age range, they may have to make some hard decisions. Given the kind of repertory Millepied likes and given the subset of younger dancers he's favoring, they may ask themselves, "What is there for me?" Do I stick around and get paid to not dance very much?? Or, do I follow Mathilde Froustey out the door and find other opportunities??

The interesting twist is that you don't see this kind of refusal to dance new choreography at a U.S. company - the dancers take all opportunities. And they are expected to. The only place where this kind of 'choosiness' might occur would be ABT, but ABT spends very little time on producing cutting-edge ballets, so I can't say it's an issue there. Froustey has so far embraced her opportunities, and so she has no attitude problem with programming at SFB. If there are etoiles that feel they need to explore "other opportunites" outside of POB, it sounds like they would not be looking for new works to dance, so that is a different situation. And where would they go? ABT? There isn't much eveidence that ABT favors the POB dancers. Other European companies might take a single dancer, if they have the budget.

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I don't see it as refusal or choosiness so much as it would be being undercast. You could get cast up to a guaranteed minimum # of performances and then find that there's not much for you to do. What do you do in that circumstance? Do you make your peace with it and reconcile yourself to having stretches in your schedule where you don't dance? Or do you look elsewhere (i.e. to Bordeaux or Vienna)?

There are certain people, like the etoile Herve Moreau and the sujet Marc Moreau, who Millepied has cast in his works and who are versatile enough to do contemporary, which there will be a lot of in 2015-16. So, they should be sitting pretty for 2015-16. But if you specialize, for instance, in princely roles, you may find yourself having a hard time of it in 2015-16 given the relative paucity of those kind of roles in Millepied's programming. Best get your resume ready in case you need to contact Charles Jude or Manuel Legris!

As for ABT, the one person I could see fitting into that repertory is Francois Alu, or at least the Don Quixote/Romeo&Juliet part of it. I think he could fill the Angel Corella spot that Daniil Simkin has failed to fill since Corella "retired".

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