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National Opera the press service of Paris can not find the words to say the cataclysm that has just fallen on Parisian institution. Amplified by an article in Paris Match , posted on the evening of February 3, the rumored that Benjamin Millepied leave his post as director of dance at the Paris Opera, he occupied since 1 st November 2014. An extraordinary press conference of Stéphane Lissner, director of the Paris Opera, to be held Thursday, February 4 at 15 am at the Palais Garnier. An hour earlier, a formal announcement will be made with the dancers. “We learned as everyone from the press that Benjamin Millepied was leaving the company , said dancer Karl Paquette. But we sensed things since some time. “” The atmosphere was stormy since December and had not arranged “ adds the star Stéphane Bullion
Read the analysis. Benjamin Millepied prints his mark on the Paris Opera
No information was available on the exact causes of the possible departure of Benjamin Millepied. The choreographer was finalizing his new ballet The night ends , with music by Beethoven, whose creation was held on February 5, alongside a contemporary piece by Jérôme Bel and another of Jerome Robbins ( 1918-1998). The program will be on display until 20 February. The new 2016-2017 season, it shall be presented on 10 February.
“Excellence, I expect to see it for real”
certainly, the rumor reported that the atmosphere was far from rosy in the company. The documentary Polling , dedicated to Millepied and rehearsals of his ballet Clear, Loud, Bright, Forward , planned 25 November 2015 premiere, then released on December 23 Canal +, shocked some dancers. Benjamin Millepied assénait, among others, about the Ballet, one of the best troops in the world: “What is the excellence of the Opera exactly? I’m still not satisfied with the way it dance scene. Excellence, I expect to see it for real … “ He concluded that ” the company is not the best classical troupe but the best in contemporary dance “.
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on December 18, in Le Figaro , Benjamin Millepied continued his criticism. To evoke the “Table of Shadows” in the ballet La Bayadère , showing the Opera Bastille from 17 November to 31 December, he said thus: “Being a dancer, it ‘ is to express, not trying to look like a pattern on wallpaper! “ He also pointed that in the band, ” the real problem to solve is that of attendance over: five times a week, not two or three times, if not the body resists, injured “. He even recommended for young dancers ” have an entrepreneurial sense, know or find funds manage a career, with, for example, social networks … “
Read the report: Benjamin Millepied sign a balanced first season
what stoke anger among the performers. “I was shocked by this devastating article by disrespect Benjamin Millepied vis-à-vis the company he denigrates completely says Karl Paquette. I dance for thirty years in the house, I love this Paris Opera, I have never felt as bad as me for six months. I also lived the end of this article as a potential announcement of his departure. “ In fact, Millepied said: ” If I can not here, I’ll do elsewhere. “
“Dream team”, “forgetting” and whirlpool
in the wake of these statements, Benjamin Millepied would have a “explanation “ with the dancers of La Bayadère . Hold the reins of 154 interpreters is not an easy task. In recent months, the subjects of discussion and even controversy, were varied. Desire to break the hierarchy, which serves as the backbone for the company; valuation of its “dream team”, a small group of young dancers selected from the ballet; conversely, “forgetting” of stars, distributed little or relegated; unbolting the castings of General evening … Always about La Bayadere, ballet nineteenth th century whose exoticism is fitting with the colonial era, Benjamin Millepied renamed the “dance of the little negroes” “children’s dance,” and denied that the young dancers of the Paris National Opera school are, as usual, in black makeup. A decision that sparked a stir among other social networks.
The color of the American Benjamin Millepied, former dancer of the New York City Ballet, she has struggled to French take on the palette? “red tape” , mentioned in the documentary Polling , would they have been insurmountable? His bodyguard, who was to gather Clotilde Vayer and the prima ballerina Aurélie Dupont, was quickly undermined. The first has long been absent because of illness; the latter finally declined the ballet master station.
Since Millepied had not officially reconstituted team but evoked the dancer Benjamin Pech as a leading contributor. As for his wife, actress Natalie Portman, who stated in the press that she did not feel safe in Paris, it would, according to France Info, for nothing in his decision.
when his appointment in January 2013, Benjamin Millepied overflowed with enthusiasm: “ç’est a dream to run a company like this” , s’extasiait it. His record to date is therefore: alongside Stéphane Lissner, he implemented the 3 th Scene, ressources for the creation and brings in the institution’s funds amounts significant thanks to the sponsorship – more than 1 million euros in the only in September 2015. gala Since his first invitation to the Paris Opera, Benjamin Millepied, who did not let go of the reins his company lA Dance Project, based in Los Angeles, created for the Paris troupe Amoveo (2006), Triad (2008), Daphnis and Chloe (2014) and Clear, Loud, Bright, Forward (2015)
Read lighting: Benjamin Millepied radiates in the footsteps of his master
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