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

  • Ballet

    George Balanchine

    Palais Garnier - from 08 February to 10 March 2023

    Béatrice Matet / VOZ'Image

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George Balanchine

Palais Garnier - from 08 February to 10 March 2023

Book

Ballet

George Balanchine

Book

Palais Garnier - from 08 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

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Advantages

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Book your tickets today with the Season Pass

Available in audiodescription

Advantages

Full

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Backstage

  • Balanchine and the Paris Opera

    Slideshow

    Balanchine and the Paris Opera

  • A jazzy musical comedy

    Video

    A jazzy musical comedy

© Agathe Poupeney / OnP

Slideshow

Balanchine and the Paris Opera

a Photo retrospective

02’

By Octave

The Paris Opera has always had a special relationship with George Balanchine. In 1947, the choreographer was invited to stage three of his ballets: the same year, he created Le Palais de cristal for the Company. Today, the Ballet repertoire includes more than thirty of his pieces, all of them reflecting the different styles and inspirations of this neoclassical master. This season, Who Cares? and Ballet Imperial are entering the Opera’s repertoire, the first being about Broadway and musicals to Gershwin's songs and the other about the imperial Russia of Balanchine’s childhood. 

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

© Agathe Poupeney / OnP

A jazzy musical comedy

05:10’

Video

A jazzy musical comedy

Roxane Stojanov rehearses Who Cares?

By Antony Desvaux, Thida Thongsoume

Created in 1970 by the New York City Ballet, George Balanchine's Who Cares? plunges into the vibrant atmosphere of Broadway musicals. The ballet, composed of a suite of dances to songs by George Gershwin - including the "standard" that gives the piece its name - enters the repertoire of the Paris Opera Ballet this season. 

On this occasion, Première danseuse Roxane Stojanov talks about the romantic and jazzy atmosphere of the ballet and her work during rehearsals. She details the singularity of Balanchine's choreographic language, and in particular the musicality dear to the choreographer. Finally, she shares her experience with Sandra Jennings, a former dancer with the New York City Ballet, who came to pass on Who Cares? to the Company's dancers.

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