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Elisabeth Platel - 20 years as Director of the Ecole de Danse
After winning a First Prize at the Paris Conservatoire in 1975, Élisabeth Platel entered the Paris Opera Ballet School. The following year, she joined the Corps de Ballet. She was named Étoile in 1981.
Since 2004, she has been head of the Paris Opera Ballet School. This season, the Paris Opera celebrates Élisabeth Platel's 20th anniversary as director. A look back at her remarkable career.
Discover an anthology of ballet excerpts danced by Élisabeth Platel, from Nureyev to Balanchine via Neumeier and Robbins, alongside prestigious partners such as Nicolas Le Riche, Jean-Yves Lormeau, Manuel Legris and Charles Jude.
After winning First Prize at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1975, Élisabeth Platel joined the Paris Opera Ballet School. The following year, she was admitted to the Corps de Ballet and was promoted to Première Danseuse in 1979. Following her debut performance as Giselle on December 23, 1981, she was named Étoile.
A renowned interpreter of the classical repertoire, she was chosen by Rudolf Nureyev—then Director of Dance at the Paris Opera—to perform the leading roles in Raymonda (1983), Swan Lake (1984), The Sleeping Beauty (1989), and La Bayadère, his final creation, in 1992.
She also took part in numerous repertoire additions and was a favored performer of works by George Balanchine and John Neumeier, while also embracing contemporary creations (including Schéma by Alwin Nikolaïs, Voluntaries by Glen Tetley, and Before Nightfall by Nils Christe).
On July 9, 1999, she gave her official farewell performance in La Sylphide, though she continued to appear at the Opera as a guest Étoile (La Bayadère and Raymonda in 2000, A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2001, and a tribute to Rudolf Nureyev in 2003).
Jacques Moatti / OnP
Icare / OnP
Jacques Moatti / OnP
Jacques Moatti / OnP
Jacques Moatti / OnP
Jacques Moatti / OnP
Jacques Moatti / OnP
Colette Masson / Roger-Viollet
Colette Masson / Roger-Viollet
François Roussillon et Associés
Élisabeth Platel about Rudolf Nureyev
A memory of Élisabeth Platel at the Opéra Bastille
For the inaugural evening of the Opéra Bastille on July 13, 1989, Élisabeth Platel performed alongside Manuel Legris a choreography by Andy de Groat on the “Bacchanal” from Samson et Dalila.
Work(s) - Podcast
A look back at the creation of the ballet Raymonda with Rudolf Nureyev.
Élisabeth Platel received the Massine Prize and the Benois de la Danse Award in 1998 and 1999, respectively, in recognition of her entire career and her role as an ambassador of the French school of ballet around the world.
Regularly invited to perform with major international companies and theaters, she danced notably with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, the Royal Ballet in London, the Hamburg Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, and the Kirov Ballet in Saint Petersburg.
École de danse - Elisabeth Platel © Agathe Poupeney / OnP
For several years, Élisabeth Platel taught as a guest teacher both in France and abroad and worked as a répétiteur. Notably, she collaborated at the Rio de Janeiro Theater alongside Claude Bessy to revive Suite en blanc (1996), Daphnis et Chloé (1998), and La Sylphide (1997), the latter in partnership with Pierre Lacotte. In 2001, she assisted Lacotte in his reconstruction of Paquita at the Palais Garnier. During the 2002/2003 season, she taught at the Paris Opera and oversaw rehearsals for Les Noces by Bronislava Nijinska the following year.
In the fall of 2004, she succeeded Claude Bessy as Director of the Paris Opera Ballet School. In 2008, she restaged La Sylphide with Manuel Legris, in Pierre Lacotte’s version, for the Hamburg Ballet, and again in 2011 for the Vienna State Opera.
Élisabeth Platel is a Commander of Arts and Letters, an Officer of the Legion of Honour, and a Commander of the National Order of Merit.
Since 2019, Élisabeth Platel has served as a classical ballet teacher for the Prix de Lausanne.
Élisabeth Platel rehearses the Paquita with the students of the Paris Opera Ballet School
Élisabeth Platel about the Paris Opera Ballet School
Watch online on Paris Opera Play
Masterclass Raymonda
Watch a masterclass on the ballet Raymonda, in which Élisabeth Platel guides three young dancers through Raymonda’s variation (Act III).
The Paris Opera Ballet School
The documentary series Budding Stars immerses us in the daily lives of students at the paris Opera Ballet School over a fifteen-year period, from their entry into the school to their progression within the company.
The Paris Opera and Arop would like to thank the members of the Cercle Taglioni and Kinoshita, a Major Partner of the Paris Opera, whose generosity supports the activities of the Paris Opera Ballet School.
