The Summer School is addressed to young dancers between 10 and 19 years of age. Created in 2013 for the Tercentenary of the Paris Opera Ballet School, this summer intensive is a unique opportunity for young dancers from all over the world to train at the world’s most ancient ballet school. The Summer School faculty includes teachers and pianists from the Paris Opera Ballet School and dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet Company.

206 students attended the ten-day first edition of the Summer School in 2013 and 127 of them came from abroad. In 2023, 33 countries were represented amongst our 271 summer students, who attended half or the full programme.

Located near Nanterre’s André Malraux Park, not far from the underground rail line linking it to the Palais Garnier, the Ballet School was conceived in order to reproduce spatially the different times in children’s day. Connected by walkways, three building wings stand aside one another on a vast parcel of land bordered on one side by the town, and nature on the other: the dance building, the general education and administrative wing, and the residence hall. Facing the park, in the dance wing, a large spiral staircase provides access to the studios via a panoramic promenade punctuated by landings where students can gather.

Summer School students take their classes in the School’s premises and can be accommodated in the residence hall if they request a room. The rooms have been designed for three students. Each student has a window view and a bed-cabinet-desk unit separated by a low partition. The windows look out on the distant city to dissociate the dance activities of the day from the evenings which are set aside for rest and relaxation.

The Summer School is a specialized professional training and does not lead to auditions for the full-time programme.