George Balanchine - Ballet - Season 22/23 Programming - Opéra national de Paris

  • Ballet

    George Balanchine

    Palais Garnier - from 06 February to 10 March 2023

    Béatrice Matet / VOZ'Image

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George Balanchine

Palais Garnier - from 06 February to 10 March 2023

Book

Ballet

George Balanchine

Book

Palais Garnier - from 06 February to 10 March 2023

1h45 with 1 interval

  • Pre‑opening for the young : 6 Feb. 2023

    Opening night : 8 fév. 2023

About

In few words:

Created in 1970 by the New York City Ballet, Who cares? is a suite of dances to songs by George and Ira Gershwin – including the “classic” that gives the piece its name and I Got Rhythm – against the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline. Who cares? combines an ensemble of dancers in various formations, followed by four soloists. All come together in a playful finale in which Balanchine wanted to show the ’musical genius and melodic beauty of Gershwin’s compositions through classical dance’. of Gershwin’s compositions through classical dance’. A tribute to the grandeur of Imperial Russia, Ballet Impérial was created in 1941 by the American Ballet Caravan to Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto. A work in which George Balanchine brilliantly celebrates the technical virtuosity of academic ballet in the style of Petipa – his “spiritual father” – and the great St Petersburg tradition.

  • Opening
  • First part 40 mn
  • Intermission 20 mn
  • Second part 45 mn
  • End

Performances

Available in audiodescription

Advantages

Full

Available in audiodescription

Advantages

Full

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Backstage

  • Balanchine and the Paris Opera

    Slideshow

    Balanchine and the Paris Opera

© Agathe Poupeney / OnP

Slideshow

Balanchine and the Paris Opera

a Photo retrospective

02’

By Octave

The Paris Opera has always maintained close ties with George Balanchine. As early as 1947, the choreographer was invited to come and stage three of his ballets; an occasion for which he also created Le Palais de Cristal (Symphony in C). Today, over thirty of his works feature in the Paris Opera Ballet’s repertoire, each illustrating the different styles and inspirations of the neoclassical master.

From narrative ballets to abstract pieces, the choreographer’s body of work is rich and varied. Always in total symbiosis with the score, his ballets allow us to hear the dance and see the music. Balanchine's style - he was trained in the Russian technique by the greatest ballet masters - is not monolithic and contains numerous references, evoking both the Imperial Ballet and character dances. 

Balanchine also retained a penchant for a corps de ballet made up of numerous performers; he liked the interlacing arms that linked the dancers together as their legs criss-crossed across the stage. The skillful convolutions of his pas de deux are also evident in his “black and white” ballets. Here, there are no sets or costumes: purity of movement has pride of place.

“It can never be said that my ballets are abstract. They are immersed in the utilisation of the body, the person and the human soul.” George Balanchine, conversation with Violette Verdy

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