MARIE BLAISE – FOLKLORIC DANCE (6th DIVISIONS) AND BAROQUE DANCE (5th DIVISIONS)
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.
ROXANA BARBACARU – CHARACTER DANCE (3rd DIVISIONS)
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 – CHARACTER DANCE (4th DIVISIONS)
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 Ballet School of the Opéra national de Paris since 2011.
SCOTT ALAN PROUTY – MUSICAL EXPRESSION (6th to 2nd DIVISIONS)
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, recordings, 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.
SYLVIE JACQ-MIOCHE – HISTORY OF DANCE (3rd and 2nd DIVISIONS)
Professor specialized in Modern Literature, Doctor in Aesthetics, Dance historian, Sylvie Jacq Mioche worked on the Dictionnaire de la danse (Dictionary of Dance), the Dictionnaire de la Musique Française au XIXème siècle (Dictionary of the French Music during the 19th century) and on the Encyclopédie des femmes créatrices (Encyclopedia on creative women). In 2007, she published La danse vue par Maurice Béjart et Colette Masson (Ballet revisited by Maurice Béjart and Colette Masson). She regularly participates in drafting the programs of the Paris Opera.
Sylvie Jacq Mioche has been teaching at the Ballet School of the Opéra national de Paris since 2005.
VINCENT BURRET – HISTORY OF DANCE (4th DIVISIONS)
A history-geography teacher in high-school, with a PhD in Cultural and Social History, Vincent Burret also created and gave exclusive lectures on ballet for New York University in Paris, including on Balanchine. He is a specialist on the representations of the ballerina in the 19th century (cultural and social history). Vincent Burret has been teaching History of Dance at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2024.
ROBERT LE NUZ – ANATOMY (3rd AND 2nd DIVISIONS)
Trained in classical, contemporary and baroque dance, Robert Le Nuz has been performing since 2002 in contemporary companies. He has been taking part in many baroque productions (ballets and operas) in France and abroad, with prestigious baroque orchestras (Les Arts Florissants, Le Concert Spirituel...) and renowned companies (L'Eventail M.-G. Massé...). He is also a member of the Teaching Committee of Pro D.A. (French Federation of Professionals in Early Dance).
A former physiotherapist, passionate about the body movement, he became interested in the Functional Analysis of the Body in Dance Movement (AFCMD). Also a specialist of the Flexible Bar Technique, he was assistant to Wilfride Piollet during ten years and also an anatomy consultant for his books Les Gestes de Lilou, Aventure et Synthèse des Barres Flexibles.
Currently a classical and baroque dance, Anatomy-Physiology and AFCMD teacher, he works in conservatoire for amateurs and pre-professional students. He is also a trainer in AFCMD and Anatomy-Physiology for the dance teaching diploma.
He is a member of ministerial commissions on dance diplomas and studies reforms, as well as consultant for the CND's work on dancers' health. Robert Le Nuz has been teaching Anatomy at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2023.
FRANÇOIS-XAVIER FEREY – PHYSICAL TRAINING
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, Beijing 2008 and London 2012) 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.
IRIS FLORENTINY – CONTEMPORARY DANCE (2nd DIVISIONS)
Iris Florentiny is a graduate teacher from the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, and holds a state diploma in contemporary dance.
In 2010, she moved to New York to join the prestigious Martha Graham Dance School. She gradually climbed the ranks of the company Graham II, then joined the Martha Graham Dance Company in 2010, where she danced for four years and performed all over the world. Back in France, she joined the Blanca Li company, for the performances Robot and Solstice, premiered at the Théâtre National de Chaillot, among others.
In parallel, she works as a choreographer. She is a tenured teacher at the Paris Dance Conservatoire, the Rick Odums Professional Training and the Boulogne Billancourt Conservatoire. She also gives numerous workshops and master classes throughout the world.
Iris Florentiny has been a teacher at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2020.
CLÉMENT HERVIEU-LEGER – ACTING
Admitted in the Comédie Française in 2005, he performed especially under the direction of Marc Bozonnet, Anne Delbée, Andrzej Seweryn, Lukas Hemleb, Claude Mathieu, Eric Génovèse, Robert Wilson, Véronique Vella, Denis Podalydès, Pierre Pradinas, Loïc Corbery, Marc Paquien, Muriel Mayette, Jean-Pierre Vincent, Anne-Laure Liégeois, Lilo Baur… Outside the Comédie Française, he works with Daniel Mesguich, Nita Klein, Bruno Bouché, and Patrice Chéreau and appeared in movies with Catherine Corsini, Patrice Chéreauou Guillaume Nicloux. Director, he staged La Critique de l’Ecole des femmes by Molière, La Didone by Cavalli, l’Epreuve by Marivaux. He signed the dramaturgy of La Source choreographed by Jean-Guillaume Bart for the Paris Opera Ballet. Since 2010, he has been co-directing the “Compagnie des Petits Champs”.
Clément Hervieu-Léger has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2009.
DANIEL SAN PEDRO – ACTING
Trained at the National Conservatory in, Daniel San Pedro performed in L’Épreuve by Marivaux, staged by Clément Hervieu-Léger with whom he co-directs the “Compagnie des Petits Champs”. He participated in several theatrical performances under the direction of Ladislas Chollat, Fabrice Melquiot, Jean-Luc Revol, Marcel Maréchal, Gildas Bourdet, Jean-Luc Palies, Franck Berthier, Philippe Calvario, Gregory Baquet, Gaël Rabas, Laurent Serrano… For Les Sables Mouvants, he was nominated for the Prix Michel Simon and was awarded the Best Actor Award at the Festival Jeune Comédien de Bézier. From 2002 to 2005, he was associate artist at the Centre National de Création in Chateauvallon (directed by Christian Tamet). He also staged A la recherche du lys (monologue taken by Garcia Lorca which he adapted and performed), Ziryab, Le Romancero Gitan, Dans les rues de la ville, Contes et recettes.
Daniel San Pedro has been teaching at the Paris Opera Ballet School since 2010.
BRUCE TAYLOR – JAZZ
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.
