Gala of Stars and Soloists of the Paris Opera House

Stars, prima ballerinas and soloists of the great French theater will show the elegance of the most refined dance in a diverse program of great ballet pieces.

Enjoy the great talent of the dancers forged with the refined technique and the seal of excellence of the prestigious French ballet school created by Louis XIV, King of France, in 1713, which has more than 300 years of history.

PROGRAM

“La Sylphide”
Act II , pas de deux
Music: Hermann Severin von Løvenskjold
Choreography: August Bournonville
Performers: Letizia Galloni, Antoine Kirscher
7min 30sec

In 1834, the great Danish choreographer August Bournonville was present at the Paris Opera, watching Maria Taglioni's interpretation of Filippo Taglioni's La Sylphide.
He was inspired by that performance and decided to bring the ballet to his country, adapting the original version for his students. Two years later, at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen, Sylfiden was performed with the same story of the original ballet, but with a completely new style and technique. It was a great success, from 1836 to the present day, marking the beginning of the Romantic Ballet.

“Donizetti pas de deux
Music: Gaetano Donizetti
Choreography: Manuel Legris
Performers: Nine Seropian, Alexandre Boccara
9 min

Seen as a true tribute to the technique of the best ballet school, Donizetti Pas de Deux is a fresh and refined creation by Manuel Legris from 2011, now danced all over the world by top-level dancers. The steps fit perfectly with the style of Donizetti's music, evolving into a virtuosic and joyful duet.

“La méditation de Thais'' (The meditation of Thais)
Music: Jules Massenet
Choreography: Roland Petit
Performers: Clémence Gross , Jack Gasztowtt
6min35
One of the most famous violin solos in the world, considered a symphonic intermezzo of the masterpiece “Thais” by Jules Massenet, created at the Paris Opera in 1894. The choreography is an excerpt of pas de deux from Ma Pavlova by Roland Petit, representing the exaltation and idealization of the pas de deux in the style of Anna Pavlova, very present and inspired. The poetry and lyrical impact of this duet, in Petit's unique pure style, is exalted by Massenet's score.

“Palindrome presque parfait”
Music: John Adams
Choreography: Simone Valastro
Performers: Letizia Galloni, Axel Ibot
5min

Created in 2015, Almost Perfect Palindrome, with music by John Adams, is a piece choreographed by Simone Valastro with the company Les Italiens de l'Opéra, on the occasion of its debut tour in Venice in 2016. Composer John Adams describes the structure of his work China Gates as an almost perfect palindrome. This duet, with a narrative bent, attempts to illustrate this music through the dialogue of a couple leading to their complete destruction. The dark character of this work highlights these two opposing Forces that each person is capable of exerting on the other: Good and Evil.

“Grand Pas Classique”
Music: Daniel-François-Esprit Auber
Choreography: Victor Gsovsky
Performer: Valentine Colasante, Shale Wagman
10min

Gzovsky choreographed Grand Pas Classique in 1949 as a stand-alone pas de deux and it has become his most famous work, loved by dancers and audiences around the world for its challenging and virtuosic choreography. He did so as a tribute to the style and aesthetics of classical ballet, pioneered in 19th century Russia by the “father” of classical ballet, Marius Petipa. The choreography in Grand Pas Classique is a great example of what classical ballet technique is all about. Gzovsky followed Petipa's recipe for this style of ballet: dazzling precision, clear and beautiful lines, breathtaking turns, impossible balances and steely strength. Today, with modern training and conditioning practices, dancers can elevate this style and technique to heights that Petipa, and perhaps even Gzovsky, would never have thought possible.

PAUSE (from 15 to 20min)

“Aunis”
Music: Maurice Pacher
Choreography: Jacques Garnier
Performers: Antoine Kirscher, Alexandre Boccara, Axel Ibot
10min 20sec

Two accordionists and three dancers on a sand dune overlooking the sea. There is an open sky, the wind blows and waves their shirts while the movement of the waves provides a visual background to this decidedly joyful folk dance. Created in 1979 by French choreographer Jaques Garnier, Aunis is a hymn to the rediscovered joy of liberating the body in movement, rhythm and music. The choreographer loved and used to tell his dancers, for this piece, “Smile at life and, bursting with laughter, love.”

“Unfolding”
Music: John Adams “Christian Zeal and Activity”.
Choreography : Simone Valastro
Performer : Clémence Gross , Jack Gasztowtt
10min30

This beautiful music by John Adams (which sounds a bit like Mahler) was the opportunity to study slow movement in a duet. The two dancers gradually “unfold” their movements to achieve, each time, a final position. A metaphor for life, where two people are in constant, if imperceptible, change and perpetual adaptation to each other.

“Camille''
Music: Maurice Ravel
Choreography: Yvon Demol
Performer: Nine Seropian
6min15

Camille evokes the search for a balance between femininity and virility of its performer. How are they expressed? What opposes them? At the end of this research, is there a choice to be made?

“The Corsair”
Act II: passage two
Music: Riccardo Drigo
Choreography: Marius Petipa
Performers: Valentine Colasante, Shale Wagman
10min

Excerpted from the complete ballet “Le Corsaire”, at this point in the story, Conrad, the pirate, has rescued Medora, a Greek slave who was to be sold to a pasha's harem, and has taken her to his subway grotto where, having fallen in love with her, they dance this pas de deux in celebration of her rescue. The pas de deux from Le Corsaire is one of the most famous in the entire classical ballet repertoire. In the repertoire of almost every ballet company, large and small, and performed by almost every classically trained dancer, from advanced students to prima ballerinas and prima ballerinas, this show-stealing duet is an audience favorite whenever and wherever it is danced.