Admitted to the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1973, she is 18 when she entered the Corps de Ballet. Promoted to “Coryphée” in 1984, to “Sujet” in 1985, to “Première danseuse” in 1989, she is finally nominated “Danseuse Etoile” in 1993. Favorite soloist for Jerome Robbins’ ballets (In the Night, En Sol, Dances at a Gathering, The Concert and The Four Seasons), she danced in works by Balanchine, Lifar, Lander, Béjart, Petit, Kylián… from the Paris Opera repertoire and also participated in creations by Twyla Tharp, Odile Duboc, William Forsythe, Angelin Preljocaj, Jean-Claude Gallotta, Mats Ek, José Montalvo… She has been decorated “Chevalier” of the National Order of Merit.

Carole Arbo has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2001.

Awarded with the National Conservatoire first Prize, Francesca Zumbo entered the Grand Ballet du marquis de Cuevas in 1961 before being admitted to the Paris Opera Ballet School the following year. She is hired in the Corps de Ballets in 1963 and promoted to “Première danseuse” in 1969. She drew attention to herself in the role of the Chosen one in the Rite of Spring by Maurice Béjart and in Etudes by Harald Lander. She also participated in the creation of Manfred by Rudolf Nureyev and was soloist in the role of the Lilac Fairy in the Sleeping Beauty by Rosella Hightower. She was awarded the Gold Medal of the first International Moscow competition in 1969 along with Patrice Bart. She has been decorated “Chevalier” of the National Order of Merit.

Francesca Zumbo has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1985.

Fabienne Cerutti entered the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1971. Hired in the Corps de Ballet in 1976, she was promoted to “Sujet” in 1982. During her years at the Opera, she was taught by Serge Peretti, Christiane Vaussard, Rita Thalia, Jacqueline Moreau… Her repertoire ranges from classical to more contemporary works. Thus she performed the main roles in Nutcracker, the Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, La fille mal gardée and danced in Precipice by Alvin Ailey, Voluntaries by Glen Tetley, Tanz Schul by Jiří Kylián, Midsummer Night's Dream by John Neumeier… She also danced as Terpsichore along with Rudolf Nureyev in Apollon Musagete by Balanchine.

Fabienne Cerutti has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1998.

Admitted to the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1973, she was 17 when she entered the Corps de Ballet. She was promoted to “Sujet” in 1981, then to “Première danseuse” in 1989. From Lifar to Balanchine, she was also given solo parts by Kenneth MacMillan, Pierre Lacotte, Roland Petit and Jerome Robbins. Nominated “Danseuse Etoile” in 1993, she danced works from the classical repertoire: Giselle (according to Coralli and Perrot), Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadère, Raymonda, the Sleeping Beauty (Rudolf Noureev)… She also created ballets by Carolyn Carlson, Karole Armitage, Nils Christe, Dominique Bagouet, William Forsythe, Daniel Larrieu, Patrice Bart (Coppélia – 1996) and Jiří Kylián (Doux Mensonges – 1999). She has been decorated “Chevalier” of the National Order of Merit.

Fanny Gaïda has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2002.

Pupil of Master Brieux, Christiane Vaussard and Yvette Chauviré, Marie-José Redont entered the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1961. In 1969, she was 16 when she joined the Corps de Ballet. She danced the role of ‘the Spaniard’ in the Bourmeister’s version of Swan Lake and the pas-de-deux of the Blue Bird in the Sleeping Beauty by Rosella Hightower. She also took part in the creations of Adagietto (Oscar Aráiz), Black and Blue (Luis Falco), Quelques pas graves de Baptiste (Francine Lancelot). She interpreted the Mistress in the Rite of Spring by Paul Taylor. Alongside her career as a dancer, she worked as a repetiteur along with Francine Lancelot for the world creation of Quelques pas graves de Baptiste and for l’Ecole de Danse de Sarah, les Yeux grands ouverts by Gigi Caciuleanu (1988). She collaborated with Dr. Olivier Troisier on the writing of Education vertébrale – verrouillage, déverrouillage : pédagogie et techniques, published by Masson Editions (2002).

Marie-José Redont has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1987.

Admitted to the Paris Opera Ballet in 1979 after winning the National Conservatoire first Prize, she was promoted to “Coryphée” in 1983, then to “Sujet” in 1987. She took part in all major productions of the repertoire and was given soloist roles in ballets by Nureyev, Serge Lifar, Jerome Robbins… and danced parts for “Etoile” including in The Nutcracker (in both Nureyev and Neumeier’s versions). She created ballets by Maguy Marin, David Parsons, Merce Cunningham, Jiří Kylián, Paul Taylor, Daniel Larrieu, Jean-Claude Gallotta. In September 2004, she was the sole performer in Véronique Doisneau, the creation by Jérôme Bel. After the Palais Garnier, this piece of work will be subsequently performed in many countries.

Véronique Doisneau has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2006.

Muriel Hallé started her training at the National Conservatoire of Paris before joining the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1978. Admitted to the Corps de Ballet in 1984, she is promoted to “Coryphée” in 1986, then to “Sujet” in 1988. Muriel Hallé participated – until 2006 – in many productions of the repertoire, creations and tours of the Opera Ballet in France and abroad. Thus she was entrusted with soloist roles in ballets by Nureyev (The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, Cinderella, Raymonda, Romeo and Juliet), Balanchine (The Four Temperaments) and Lifar (Suite en blanc) and was also given parts in ballets by Jerome Robbins (The Concert), Maurice Béjart (Le Concours) and Pierre Lacotte (Paquita). She also danced roles for “Etoile” during the 1997 season at the English National Ballet. Muriel Hallé is choreologist, graduated from the Benesh dance notation master class at the CNSMDP and is teaching dance notation at the Paris Opera Ballet School.

After having been the teacher of the 6 months training program for two years, Muriel Hallé has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2008.

Admitted to the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1962, Jacques Namont was hired in the Corps de Ballet in 1966. Promoted to “Premier danseur” in 1976, he was a great performer of the ‘Jester’ in Bourmeister’s version of Swan Lake. From 1973, he taught at the Raymond Franchetti Academy, at the Ballet de Marseille Roland Petit (1975) and also at the Paris Opera Ballet (1988 à 1991). He was then the Director of the ENSD in Marseille (1992 à 1995). Famous performer of the ‘Joker’, Jacques Namont also assisted Janine Charrat for the entry to the Paris Opera Ballet School’s repertoire of Jeu de cartes. Internationally renowned teacher, he was regularly invited to the Royal Ballet School of London, the Béjart Ballet of Lausanne, the Nancy Ballet, the Monte Carlo Ballet, the Lyon Ballet, the Rio de Janeiro Ballet. He was appointed “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres”.

Jacques Namont has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1997.

Eric Camillo started dancing in Marika Besobrasova’s class in Monte-Carlo before entering the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1981. Admitted to the Corps de Ballet in 1985, he was promoted to “Coryphée” in 1986, then to “Sujet” in 1987. More particularly he performed as ‘Colin’ in La Fille mal gardée (Joseph Lazzini) and also many roles in Rudolf Nureyev’s productions. He participated in numerous galas with the “Nureyev and Friends” group. In 1990 he won the 1st Prize at the International Dance Competition in Paris and the AROP award in 1991.

Teacher at the Paris Opera Ballet from January 2002 to July 2007, Eric Camillo has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2004.

Pupil at the Paris Opera Ballet School, then at the CNSM where he won the 1st Prize in 1963, Bernard Boucher was admitted to the Corps de Ballet in 1964. During his years at the Opera, he worked especially with Maître Brieux and Serge Peretti. Promoted to “Premier danseur” in 1977, he was awarded the Gold Medal for best partner at the International Competition in Tokyo in 1978. He performed in ballets by George Balanchine (Agon, The Four Temperaments, Violin concerto, Palais de cristal, Capriccio), by Rudolf Nureyev (‘Rothbart’ In Swan Lake, ‘Espada’ in Don Quixote), by Serge Lifar (Suite en blanc, Mirages)… He also performed in ballets by Roland Petit, John Neumeier (‘Oberon’ and ‘Demetrius’ in A Midsummer Night’s Dream), José Limon (La Pavane du Maure) and participated in the creations of The Firebird and Rite of Spring by Maurice Béjart. 

Bernard Boucher has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1989.

Admitted to the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1973, Wilfried Romoli was hired in the Corps de Ballet at the age of 16. “Sujet” in 1983, he was promoted to “Premier danseur” in 1989 and was given numerous soloist roles. As one of Nureyev’s favorite performers, he was entrusted with soloist parts in many of Nureyev’s ballets: Swan Lake, Raymonda, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote and also ‘Solor’ in his last production, La Bayadère. His curiosity, his energy as well as his liking for novelty engendered an early interest in contemporary dance. Several meetings with great choreographers deeply stroke his career. Thus, John Neumeier, Roland Petit, Jerome Robbins, Maguy Marin, Mats Ek, Pina Bausch, Jiří Kylián, to name a few, regularly chose him. In 2005 he was named “Danseur Etoile” at the end of the performance of Ich bin… by Susanne Linke. He was appointed “Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres”.

Wilfried Romoli has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2008.

Trained by Raymond Franchetti, Lilian Arlen and Nina Vyroubova, Marc du Bouaÿs entered the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1960. Admitted to the Corps de Ballet in 1968, he was promoted to “Sujet” the same year. From 1981 to 1982, he performed at the English National Ballet, from 1982 to 1985 at the Pittsburg Ballet, and from 1984 to 1985 at the Northern Ballet of Manchester. From 1988, he taught classical ballet in Nice and abroad (Italy, Monaco, Australia…) before joining the Rosella Hightower Ballet School in Cannes from 1994 to 1996.

Marc du Bouaÿs has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1997.

Admitted to the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1966, he was taught by Christiane Vaussard, Gilbert Mayer and Raymond Franchetti. Hired in the Corps de Ballet in 1974, he performed in numerous productions of the repertoire and of creations and participated in many tours in France and abroad until 1998. At the same time, he followed the training program to become a teacher at the Paris Opera Ballet School with, as tutors, Serge Golovine and Claude Bessy (1991-1992).

Bertrand Barena has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1997.

Born in New-York, Larrio Ekson was decided on studying theater at the age of 16 and against his father’s will. Noticed by Lucille BEARDS, he got a scholarship to study at the School of Fine Arts de Carnegie Hall, which led him to the School of Harkness Ballet. In 1970, he arrived in Paris and discovered the dance studios of the Villa Wagram and the Salle Pleyel where he took Nina Vyroubova’s classes. Legendary partner of Carolyne Carlson, the most famous choreographers like Maurice Béjart and Jiri Kylian asked for him. Alongside his carrier as a dancer, Larrio Ekson has earned an international name as a renowned pedagogue: in 1992, Roland Petit gave him the responsibility of the contemporary dance department at the National Ballet School of Marseille, he is invited as teacher at the Rudra-Béjart School, he also is a teacher at the Paris Opera Ballet, the National Conservatoires of Paris, Lyon and La Rochelle, as well as at the National Choreographic centres of Nancy and Roubaix.

Larrio Ekson has been teaching master-classes at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2008.

Choreographer, dancer and teacher, Bruce Taylor comes from New York where he was trained at the Alvin American Dance School and at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. After performing with the companies of Agnès de Mille, Bella Levinski, Walter Nicks and Elisa Monté, he came to live in France in the 1980s. He worked with Peter Goss and Redha before creating his own company in 1996: ChoréOnyx. He also created works for other companies and has been teaching ‘modern jazz’ all over Europe, especially at the English National Ballet, the Royal Ballet School, as well as at the Bartholin International Dance Seminars in Copenhagen.

Bruce Taylor has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1993.

Trained in the art of mime by Ella Jaroszewicz (defector of “the Pantomime Ballet of Wroclaw”, Poland National Theater founded and directed by the dancer Henryk Tomaszewski), she performed in all the creations of her company “The Magenia Theater” and took part in the tours in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Poland, Austria, Spain… from 1974 to 1994.

Yasmine Piletta has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1977.

Trained at the Ballet School of Bucharest from 1966 to 1975, Roxana Barbacaru got a baccalaureate in dance studies in 1975. Soloist of the Bucharest National Opera from 1975 to 1984, she joined the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1984 where she followed a professional training to become a dance teacher. In 1994, she founded her own character dance company – Roxana Barbacaru Company – and staged several shows for it (Rencontres dansées, Voyage autour de la danse, Danse de l’Europe orientale). At the same time, she created and performed in La divine Analogie and La voix qui se voit.

Character dance teacher at the Paris CNSMDP and CNR, Roxana Barbacaru has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1996.

Jessica Baumann-Choppe was first trained to classical ballet and studied dance with renowned masters such as Gilbert Mayer, Jean Golovine and then Roxana Barbacaru with whom she discovered character dance. She worked and improved her knowledge with her for over 20 years and was her assistant for many years at the Paris Opera Ballet School. Their complicity and involvement for character dance led Jessica Baumann-Choppe to enhance her work especially with Irina Grejbina in Paris and Yuri Vassilkov in St. Petersburg and to continue to deepen her experiences through personal research on traditional dances. Eager to pass on her knowledge to a wider public, she founded the Dance Academy in Meaux where she enjoys transmitting this rich and fulfilling discipline.

Jessica Baumann-Choppe has been teaching at the Ballet School Janine Stanlowa and at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2011.

Early trained to French and Polish traditional dance, Marie Blaise completed her dance training with contemporary dance and classical ballet, but also with baroque dance and French and Italian renaissance dance. From 1979, she performed in France and abroad with the Michelle and Michel Blaise Folk French dance Company. For this company, she co-created several shows for children (De la cour au jardin, Bêtes à poils bêtes à plumes et entrechats, Coups de bâton et cheval-jupon…). In 1992, she joined the Company of Master Guillaume and Sophie Rousseau, whose work was focused on the relationship between music and dance in the Renaissance repertoire. From 1996, she also participated in shows of the Company l’Eventail (Marie-Geneviève Massé’s Company for baroque dance) as performer and assistant of the choreographer.

Marie Blaise has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2000.

American citizen and known in France as specialist in children’s voices, Scott Alan Prouty completed his studies at the Eastman School of Music in New York. Artistic Director of the Children Choir Sotto Voce, he often directs children operas at the Bastille Opera and the Théâtre du Châtelet. He also leads advanced classes for Choir Direction and Musical Pedagogy in France and is often asked to coach soloist children for movies, CDs, TV programs and shows at the Paris Opera, Théâtre du Châtelet and Palais des Sports.

Scott Alan Prouty has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1988.

Physiotherapist since 1993 and head of the physiotherapy department at the National Institute for Sport and Physical Education since 2001, François-Xavier Ferey is also coordinator of the Performance Support Unit (rehabilitation, physical training and recovering), coach and member of the judges in the physiotherapy field. He was also a member of the medical team at the Olympic Games (Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008) and of the paramedical management team (gymnastics, rehabilitation, stretching) of French Teams (aerobatics, riding, rowing…). Meanwhile, he was in charge of gymnastics classes and of the back school at the C.H.R. in Pontoise from 1993 to 2001.

François-Xavier Ferey has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 1996.