Estelle

Thanks for the correction- actually I had forgotten that Guérin actually was a premiere danseuse before being promoted to étoile (perhaps a confusion because Hilaire, who still was a sujet, was promoted at the same moment as Guérin). cygneblanc, do you know if there is any official text about the number of étoiles in the company? Actually it's quite a headache to try to understand all that, and I'm pretty sure that there were some periods when the total number of principals was above 12... Naoko, you wrote: "she commented that first and foremost her relationship with the company's management should change as being étoile meant you were finally given a right to dispute/challenge them - on choice of roles, etc." Yes, I think that the étoiles are a bit more "powerful" than the premiers danseurs- for example they only dance "big roles", and also in general when there are some etoiles and some premiers danseurs cast in the same role, it's always an étoile who dances the premiere. About the "first soloists/ premiers danseurs": yes, premier danseur is a rather complicated position, and it might also depends on the direction's policy: some of them can be almost like "étoiles without the title", dancing all the big roles, while some others aren't cast much (and it can change depending on the season). But I'm not that much familiar with the hierarchy of other companies (and there's also the fact that the POB is quite larger than, for example, the Royal Ballet, which probably has an influence on the casting policies).

Naoko- it's a complicated question indeed. There are five levels in the POB hierarchy: quadrilles, coryphées, sujets, premiers danseurs and étoiles. Actually the full name for the "étoiles" is "premier danseur étoile" (or "première danseuse étoile"), it exists only since the 1940s (but the hierarchy varied quite a lot, for example until the 1960s there were two categories of quadrilles- premiers quadrilles and second quadrilles- and two categories of sujets- petits sujets and grands sujets...) but I think that now it's an "official" level of the hierarchy. It's true that the étoiles are promoted directly by the director (actually by the director of the Paris Opera, for example now it's Hugues Gall, but usually on a suggestion of the Director of Dance, now Brigitte Lefèvre), unlike all the other categories which depend on the annual competition. And there have been some examples of dancers promoted to étoile who were just sujets (for example Laurent Hilaire, Manuel Legris and Isabelle Guérin), or even just coryphée (someone in the 1940s, I don't remember exactly whom, perhaps Michel Renault)- but it's rather unusual, and usually people have to become premiers danseurs first. Their contract is different from those of the other categories: all the dancers in the other categories are in a fixed salary scale (depending on the category, on how long they've been in the company) fixed by the State, plus some extra money depending on how much they perform and of the rehearsal time, while the étoiles sign a special contract every year which might be different for each of them. Also (I think it's not a written rule, just an implicit one) the étoiles always perform "big" roles, while the premiers danseurs and premières danseuses also perform some less prestigious ones (e.g. Bluebird pas de deux in "Sleeping Beauty", Hilarion in "Giselle"...) The question of the "available posts" is very complicated, and I haven't really understood how it works yet! I've been told that the total number of étoiles+premiers danseurs is fixed, but in fact it tends to vary a little bit as it might take some time after a retirement before somebody is promoted. And the number of étoiles itself can vary quite a lot, in recent years it has been especially low, partly because of a deliberate decision of the direction to have a low number of étoiles, partly perhaps because of a lack of dancers to promote (though there's much disagreement about it ) For example now there are only 5 female étoiles (by ordrer of seniority: Maurin, Letestu, Dupont, Pujol, Osta), which really isn't much for such a large company, while there have been some periods in the 1990s with 8 étoiles (e.g. Platel, Legrée, Loudières, Guérin, Maurin, Pietragalla, Arbo, Gaïda), on the other hand the number of premiers danseurs and premières danseuses has increased quite a lot. I guess that given how difficult it is to become a premier danseur or première danseuse, they could be considered as "principals", but in general people tend to translate "étoile" as principal (and premier danseur becomes something like "first soloist").

MickeyFan posted the following in the POB forum: About the salaries: I think you misunderstood, because those figures are incredibly low, nobody could live with so little money, moreover it would be illegal (below the minimal wage in France)... Perhaps those were monthly figures? Also, all the salaries of the dancers below principal are fixed (depending on the category and on how long they've been in the company), plus some extra money depending on how much they perform and on how much time they spend on stage. For the principals it's a bit different, they sign a new contract each year, and so the salary might depend quite a lot on the dancer. Also, of course, some of them can earn extra money when performing with other companies, or in galas (and it's much better paid for the principals...)

MickeyFan, this documentary was mentioned in several previous threads, so you might try having a look at it: http://balletalert.ipbhost.com/index.php?s...15entry127090 http://balletalert.ipbhost.com/index.php?s...t=0entry17966 http://balletalert.ipbhost.com/index.php?s...st=0entry3738 Also there's an ongoing discussion about it in the "ballet videos" forum, there: http://balletalert.ipbhost.com/index.php?s...=0entry115372 so I'm going to close this topic and copy your post to that thread so that more people can answer it.

I think that Nureyev's production of "Raymonda" was filmed around 1983-1985 at the Paris Opera, and even shown on TV then (with a wonderful cast including Pontois, Nureyev and Denard in the main roles, and also Loudières, de Vulpian, Legris, Hilaire, Legrée, Dupond, Pietragalla, Romoli, Vu An, Guérin in secondary roles, Guillem in the corpsde ballet, and Yvette Chauviré in an acting role), but unfortunately it's not available as a tape or DVD and I've no idea where to find it (frustrating, as the cast sounds so exciting! )

Mashinka, Maurin has been absent from the POB stage for a a few months now (I don't think she's danced since the beginning of the season?), and as far as I know there has been no official announcement about the reason for it (but in previous years I don't think there has been any "ageism" in the "Giselle" casts, for example several principals had their official farewell performance in that ballet). About Belarbi, I've no idea if his absence is his own choice of the direction's (but in the last seasons he seemed to be less and less interested in classical roles). Here's a direct link to the casts: http://www.opera-de-paris.fr/0304/fiche_588_distri.html But of course, as usual they're likely to be modified several times before the performances... Also I hope that they'll add the casts for Myrtha. I regret that Clairemarie Osta won't dance it (as Maurin, she's been absent from the stage for a while)... And also that Delphine Moussin won't, as her expressiveness and grace could be well-suited to the role (I think that she's likely to dance Myrtha, as she already danced it in previous seasons).

I've never seen the Royal Ballet of Flanders, but it's sad indeed to see that yet another ballet company is transformed into a modern dance company. It happened in France with the Ballet du Nord, the Ballet du Rhin, the Ballet de Nancy et de Lorraine (mostly after some budget cuts). That's really saddening indeed. And as diane wrote, that means less and less exposure to ballet for tomorrow's audience- and fewer and fewer jobs for ballet-trained dancers...

I think Mats Ek choreographed a work after that play in 1978, but I have never seen it...

Thanks, cygneblanc! About Mathilde Froustey: sorry if I wasn't clear, I didn't see the competition and really don't think that she's a bad dancer, it's just that in a year with so few available positions I thought that perhaps it'd have been better to promote someone a bit more experienced rather than her who is so young and could wait one more year. About "Lamentation": actually it is just a solo work, and I don't think there is a plot. I remember reading something about it in Graham's autobiography "Blood memory" but don't have that book here... but if I remember correctly, she mentioned that one day after she performed it, a women of the audience told her that she thanked her because she had lost her child years ago and when seeing Graham's solo it was the first time she could manage to cry. Do you know if there might be some copyright issues for the variations the dancers perform? For example, the performance of Balanchine works have to be approved by the Balanchine Trust, but can someone perform a Balanchine variation for the competition without their approval (considering that it isn't a "real" performance)?

Thanks for posting the results, cygneblanc! Actually that must have been quite a frustrating year for most of the corps de ballet, as there were so few available new positions (far fewer than last year, for example)... I must say I am a bit surprised as Isabelle Ciaravola's promotion, as she's already 31, and if I remember correctly that's probably the first time in more than a decade that a dancer over 30 is promoted to première danseuse (the retirement age is now 42 instead of 40, but it's likely that many dancers won't perform much between 40 and 42), on the other hand Ciaravola was cast in quite a lot of roles in the last two or three seasons so clearly the direction seems to like her. Personally I haven't seen her that much, and when I saw her I wasn't very impressed; I really regret that Fanny Fiat wasn't competing this year (she's been absent from stage too for a few weeks) as for me she's the most talented of the female sujets. cygneblanc, who impressed you the most in each category ? (but I know it's a hard question, with so many variations to watch! ) Mathilde Froustey is a charming dancer but still very very young (I think it's her first competition) and in my opinion perhaps a bit too childish in her dancing... And I hope that someday Charline Gienzendanner will get promoted, unfortunately she hasn't been given much to do since she joined the company after dancing Swanilda in the school's program. What did Laura Hecquet dance? I really had liked her a lot last spring in the "Young dancers"program. The promotions of Dorothée Gilbert and Mathieu Ganio aren't exactly surprising, as she had made her debut in the second soloist role in "Concerto Barocco" a few days before (quite brilliantly, I think) and he will be cast in a few days in the main role of "Ivan the Terrible". I find both of them very promising (also Ganio really is a handsome young man with a great line ) but now I hope they won't get too much "pressure" too soon. It's interesting to see the diversity of the free variations they chose- and even a bit odd to see some works from Paul Taylor and Martha Graham (but Céline Talon always has been good in the modern repertory). Also one can notice that though Lifar's works have been absent from the POB stage for at least 6 years, some of them still are chosen regularly for the competition (especially "Les mirages")- I wonder with whom the dancers work those variations?

Perhaps Fanny Fiat (I don't find her so tiny but she's redheaded)?

I'm not really a fan of Nureyev's production, but indeed working with Legris must be a great opportunity!

Thanks for this link, it's an interesting interview (for example I didn't know that her first motivation to study ballet was in fact the music...) And thanks to ballet.co too! (However, there are a few things that sound odd, perhaps some translation problems?) Aurélie Dupont has been very successful since her return on stage last spring, I'm keeping my fingers crossed so that she remains in good shape (she was absent for almost one year and people were seriously worried that she might not come back).

Well, I've never heard that word before, but then there are a lot of archaic words that I've never heard...

Well, it seems to me that traditionally the POB hierarchy was quite strict, with the big roles for the étoiles, then some for the premiers danseurs, etc. and the quadrilles getting only tenth Swan or Shade on the left. And sometimes it can be very slow to get promoted: the number of available positions in each category can vary a lot, and there can be several years in a row with no new premier(e) danseur(se), or with only one or two positions in each category, so a good dancer can get stuck forever in the corps de ballet if s/he entered the company in a bad period (and from what I've read, for example this year the number of promotions will be very low :-( ) However, Nureyev gave some big roles to some young dancers (the Hilaire, Guérin, Guillem, Legris generation)- but I wonder if they already were sujets when they got some roles, or if it was before? Also, in the last few years the hierarchy has been less strict, as more and more premieres danseuses get principal roles (I remember reading a recent interview of Aurelie Dupont, who was promoted around 1998, saying that when she was premiere danseuse she got at best one matinée for the "big" roles like Kitri or Aurora, and it was a not to be missed opportunity, while now the premieres danseuses get nearly as many performances as the principals) and also some sujets or even coryphees (for example Dorothée Gilbert is supposed to perform in one of the casts for "Liebeslieder Walzer" soon, and Mathieu Ganio in "Ivan the Terrible"). But I don't think that someone just out of the POB school could ever get a big role immediately, that would be totally unusual in the company's tradition, and usually the stagiaires (apprentices) or beginning quadrilles can consider themselves lucky when they actually perform and are not just understudies... Actually I find it quite sad to see that there were some dancers who gave lovely performances with the school, and then get "drowned" in the group of quadrilles and are seldom seen on stage...

I remember that some French critics complained about it too when the POB danced "Jardin aux lilas" at the Opera Garnier in 1993. When it had been staged in the mid-1980s, it (and the other Tudor works) had been danced at the Opéra Comique, another French public theater which is smaller, and the critics found that it was better suited to that work. But now the Opéra Comique's direction is distinct from that of the Paris Opera, so I don't think they could perform there easily, and both Garnier's and Bastille's stages are quite big. I did see some performances at the Edinburgh Playhouse (the NYCB a few years ago) and yes, the sightlines is far from perfect (and the building itself isn't exactly beautiful... :green: )

That's quite great to hear about it- there are not that many opportunities to see some Tudor... As you wrote, the POB hasn't danced it for a while (and I think it's a real pity ): as far as I know, they last danced "Dark elegies" around 1997 (and I missed it because of some exams, grrrrr ) and "Jardin aux lilas" perhaps around 1994 (at least I'm sure I saw it then, but perhaps it was danced later), and most of the principals who had performed it have retired since then. (Nureyev also had added some other works to the repertory but sadly they don't seem to have been performed since the 1980s). Some other French companies have danced some Tudor: the Ballet du Rhin danced "Jardin aux lilas" in the early 1990s, but since then the direction has changed and the repertory includes modern works. It might have been in the repertory of the Ballet National de Nancy et de Lorraine when its director was Pierre Lacotte, but I'm not sure, and anyway now the Ballet de Nancy has gone the same way as the Ballet du Rhin. The Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse, under Nanette Glushak's direction, performed it a few seasons ago. It might also have been danced by the Ballet de Bordeaux, but I'm not sure. Anyway, as you wrote, none of those ballet companies could stage a whole program... But perhaps there could be some programs with some ballets performed by several companies (as in the Balanchine programs in Washington one or two seasons ago)?

I've never seen them, but here the "Théâtre équestre Zingaro" has become quite famous, and for example they were invited several times at the Avignon arts festival. The company was created in 1984 by Bartabas (I don't know his real name), and for example their show "Triptyk" included some scores by Stravinsky ("Symphony of Psalms" and "The Rite of Spring"). Their new site doesn't work yet, but the old one is there: http://www.theatre-zingaro.com/

I remember reading that a few seasons ago Brigitte Lefèvre would have liked the POB to perform it, but it was not possible for some complicated reason (perhaps a problem of rights?)

zerbinetta: what I saw was what is called now a "Passeport" at the Paris Opera: it's a kind of free event which is organized regularly and generally there is a ballet master or teacher coaching some young dancers of the corps de ballet in a part of a ballet which is currently performed or will be performed soon. When I saw Thesmar it was in Lacotte's "Paquita". If I remember correctly, she also is one of the teachers of the company (they are about seven, most of them being former principals) and sometimes helps staging some ballets.

When I first saw "Serenade" (on video, it was about one year after I started being interested in ballet, and I had seen very few live performances), my first reaction was quite lukewarm. Well, no plot, no sets, so few male dancers, that was a bit new for me. But after some further viewings (an advantage of video over live performance...) I loved it more and more and now it is one of my favorite ballets. And about "Jewels": it took me some time to enjoy "Rubies", I had first seen it alone (performed as "Capriccio" by the POB) and I had found it a bit odd (and also I didn't like that much the music), and I really enjoyed it more when seeing it inside the whole ballet, perhaps partly because of the contrast with the other two parts. Also I enjoyed more "Diamonds" last season than when first seeing it about three seasons ago (and it was the opposite for "Emeralds", but this time not because of the ballet itself, but because the new casts were in my opinion weaker than the previous ones). zerbinetta, it's nice to hear about Thesmar's performances in "Jewels"- I became interested in ballet long after she retired, but have seen so many photographs of her and also the video of "La Sylphide" in which she is quite lovely, and wish I could have seen her on stage in her performing days (I just saw her once in a coaching session).

I really love Ravel's "Ma mère l'Oye" (Mother goose) and would be interested in seeing any ballet on that score... By the way, I wonder if it has been used by other choreographers than Robbins?

Some other casts changes have been posted on the web site- most notably, no Kader Belarbi and Jérémie Bélingard any longer, and fewer performances for Jean-Guillaume Bart. I'm getting a headache trying to count all the changes, and surely it will change again before the end of the series of performance! It's getting really difficult to get to see a dancer in a particular role...

There have been quite a lot of changes in the casts (here's the link again: http://www.opera-de-paris.fr/0304/fiche_58...581_distri.html ) For example, for the opening program, Manuel Legris, who was supposed to dance "Tchaikovsky pas de deux" with Aurélie Dupont, is replaced by Jean-Guillaume Bart- and also for all the other performances. Probably an injury Also Kader Belarbi isn't cast any longer in the first movement of "Palais de Cristal" (but still is listed for "The Four Temperaments" and "The Prodigal Son"). So, socalgal and rkoretzky, here are the updated casts for Oct 3 and 10 (the changes are in italic letters): "Symphony in C": Pujol- Moreau (Oct 3), Osta-Pech (Oct 10), Letestu-Bart, Gillot-Martinez, Hurel (Oct 3) - Gaudion "Prodigal Son": Letestu-Le Riche "The Four Temperaments": (themes) Averty-Paquette, Abbagnato-Bélingard (Oct 3)/Hurel-Isoart (Oct 10) , Moussin-Bridard (melancholic) Hilaire (Oct 3)- Belarbi (sanguinic) Dupont-Romoli (Oct 3) Osta-Bart (Oct 10) (phlegmatic) Le Riche (choleric) Romberg (Oct 3)- Gillot (Oct 10) And of course it's possible that it will change again...

Thanks for sharing those memories, Helene. I wish I could have seen those casts (but it was long before I started being interested in ballet). It's interesting to notice that in the casts for the upcoming performances, there are two dancers who already danced this ballet 17 (!) years ago: Manuel Legris (now dancing the 2nd movement) and Karin Averty (still in the 1st movement- she never was promoted to principal, but I think she had the level and repertory of a principal dancer, but there were many competitors in her generation...). If I remember correctly, Manuel Legris (then 22) was promoted to principal during that tour? atm711, yes I have seen Jude (the last time being a few months ago in "Icare", he's now 50 but still dancing), but not as much as I'd like... It's interesting to read that "Suite en blanc" was not well received then, as far as I know it was very successful in France, and was one of Lifar's most often performed works. Well, now, all of his works seem to be forgotten by the company (I've heard that's partly because Hugues Gall doesn't like Lifar's works and so refuses to program it), but when I saw it in 1996 I really liked it (especially Lalo's score).