Patrice Bart Adaptation

Biography

Born in 1945, Patrice Bart entered the École de Danse in 1957 at the age of 12. Joining the Corps de Ballet in 1959, Patrice Bart rose through the ranks and was named Étoile in 1972 after taking on the role of the Prince in Swan Lake (Bourmeister version). He danced all the major roles in the repertoire, from Petrushka to the Prince in Sleeping Beauty, from Don Quixote to the Prodigal Son, and took part in creations by Serge Lifar (Constellations, 1969), Roland Petit (Mouvances, 1976), MacMillan (Métaboles, 1978) and Nureyev (Rothbart in Swan Lake, 1984).

He received the Nijinsky Prize (Université de la Danse) in 1974.

He worked as a répétiteur from 1986, then as Ballet Master in 1987, even before his farewell to the stage in 1989. Involved in the artistic organisation of the company, he and Eugène Polyakov took over as interim Directors of Dance when Rudolf Nureyev left in November 1989. He was appointed ‘Associate Director of Dance’ in 1990 (a position he held until 2011).

In 1991, he and Eugène Polyakov restaged the classical Giselle for the 150th anniversary of its creation, and the following year he assisted Rudolf Nureyev with the production of La Bayadère.

As a choreographer, he has created works for the Berlin State Opera: Don Quixote (1993; revived by the Finnish National Ballet in 1995), Swan Lake (1997), Verdiana, set to music from Verdi's operas (1999 and for the Florence Municipal Theatre Ballet in 2001), The Nutcracker (1999), Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (2002); for the Paris National Opera: Coppélia (1996), La Petite Danseuse de Degas (2003); for the Bavarian State Opera Ballet in Munich: La Bayadère, four-act version (1997) and for the Finnish National Ballet: Tchaikovsky (2005).

Patrice Bart is a Commander of Arts and Letters, of the National Order of Merit and a Knight of the Legion of Honour.

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