José Martinez appointed director of POB

[volcanohunter]

José Martinez has been appointed director of the Paris Opera Ballet following the sudden resignation of Aurélie Dupont at the end of last season. From 2011 to 2019 he had been director of the Compañía Nacional de Danza in Madrid.

Martinez danced with the POB from 1988 to 2011, and was appointed étoile in 1997.

The release notes that the search committee considered 23 candidates: 14 men and 9 women, 11 French nationals and 12 foreigners, and interviewed 8 of them for the job.

Edited October 28, 2022 by volcanohunter

[ECat]

Congratulations to Jose Martinez! My guess is that he will be a very fine director.

[bingham]

1 hour ago, ECat said:

Congratulations to Jose Martinez! My guess is that he will be a very fine director.

Hoping there will be more classical ballet.

[volcanohunter]

The release notes that Martinez will take up the post once he has finished mounting Le Corsaire for the Estonian National Ballet, so that's something.

https://opera.ee/en/staging/korsaar/

Quote

For me it was a ballet that I never danced myself and it was interesting to try to do something that would be respectful of the tradition, not a new version of a classical ballet. I wanted to give “The Corsair” something unique from me, and at the same time preserve the lush and beauty of all these famous moments, like the magic garden or the big pas de deux, the pas d’esclaves. So, I thought it was reasonable to make a purified version of the ballet, composed of a fairy tale quality similar to “Giselle” or “The Nutcracker” and simplify the dramaturgy of an otherwise complicated plot and bring to the foreground the main characters of Medora and Conrad. Therefore, what the audience will be able to see, is a story of love between the two main protagonists and the adventures of their well-known companions. I found the inspiration for the story in Lord Byron’s poem, as well as in the original score by Adolphe Adam, which I also changed where necessary. I put all these iconic parts in the centre of the ballet and round them I built my story.

 

Edited October 28, 2022 by volcanohunter

[silvermash]

José Martinez has already worked on new versions of classical ballets when he was AD of the Spanish national dance company and since he left the direction, he’s a freelance choreographer with more pieces such as this Corsaire for Eleonora Abbagnato Rome Opera Ballet.

When he was still dancing in Paris, he also choreographed a lot of short pieces that were danced by a small group of POB dancers touring all over Europe and those were neo classical. I remember well Delibes suite and Mi Favorita.

His bio on POB web site : https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/artists/jose-martinez  

 

[volcanohunter]

Yes, I've seen Delibes Suite performed by POB dancers in gala settings.