Creation of the Paris Opera Junior Ballet

Creation of the Paris Opera Junior Ballet

The Paris Opera announces the creation of a Junior Ballet comprising 18 dancers aged 17 to 23 from September 2024.

Creation of the Paris Opera Junior Ballet

The creation of the Junior Ballet reflects the Paris Opera's desire to be constantly evolving, offering innovative forms of creation, training and transmission, while preserving the institution's heritage.

The Junior Ballet aims to foster a close relationship with the public
through tours in France and abroad. Alexander Neef, General Director of the Paris Opera

Conceived as an incubator for young talent, the Paris Opera Junior Ballet meets a number of challenges: diversifying the dancers' profiles, encouraging their professional integration, and strengthening its openness to the public through tours and mediation activities, while perpetuating the Paris Opera's tercentenary expertise.

The Junior Ballet is open to young dancers from all backgrounds and to students of the Paris Opera Ballet School who wish to complete their initial training.

Following the Ballet's external competition on July 2nd and 3rd, 2024, 9 young female dancers and 9 young male dancers have been recruited to join the Junior Ballet as of the 2024/2025 season on a two-year professionalization contract. A further 6 new dancers will join in September 2025.

Throughout their training, they will deepen their mastery of the Paris Opera's classical and contemporary repertoires, and gain experience of the stage in live performances and on tour.

Under the direction of José Martinez, Director of Dance at the Paris Opera, the Junior Ballet will be supported by a dedicated artistic, teaching and administrative team.

The Junior Ballet program will alternate between training and performing on stage alongside the Ballet company. In its first season, it will perform The Sleeping Beauty at the Opéra Bastille, and on tour in France from May 2025.

The creation of the Junior Ballet has been made possible thanks to the commitment of corporate sponsors, private foundations and major donors, to whom the Opéra would like to express its gratitude, first and foremost CHANEL, Founding Patron of the Junior Ballet.

The dancers

Female dancers

  • Ève Belguet, French (Paris Opera Ballet School)
  • Grace Boyd, American (Boston Ballet II)
  • Angélique Brosse, French (on fixed-term contract with the Paris Opera Ballet)
  • Typhaine Gervais, French (Paris Opera Ballet School)
  • Yoon Seo Lee, Korean (Korean National University of Arts)
  • Shani Obadia, French (CNSMDP*)
  • Laure Ravera, French (Paris Opera Ballet School)
  • India Shackel, New Zealander (Australian Ballet School)
  • Natalie Vikner, French-Swedish (CNSMDP*)

Male dancers

  • Jaime Almaraz Baizán, Spanish (Finnish National Ballet Youth Company)
  • Davide Alphandery, Italian (Scuola di Ballo dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala)
  • Junsu Lee, Korean (on fixed-term contract with the Paris Opera Ballet)
  • Mei Matsunaga, French/Japanese (Paris Opera Ballet School)
  • Sergio Napodano, Italian (Scuola di Ballo dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala)
  • Isaac Petit, French (CNSMDP*)
  • Emryck Sanchez-Raffy, French (Paris Opera Ballet School)
  • Santiago Sales Manzanera, Spanish (on fixed-term contract with the Paris Opera Ballet)
  • Jackson Smith-Leishman, Australian (Royal Ballet Upper School)

** Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris  

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