Serge Lifar, who died 40 years ago, distilled his neoclassical art in Suite en blanc (1943). This work of “pure dance” has become almost a ritual for the Paris Opera Ballet, paying tribute to the French school while continuing to inspire it over time.

A musical score provides a uniquely potent impulse for choreographic invention. The hypnotic music of Ravel’s Boléro inspired Shahar Binyamini, a choreographer trained at the Batsheva Dance Company, to create a physical and frenetic ballet that is now entering the Paris Opera’s repertoire.

Seizing on the revolutionary rhythms of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Pina Bausch created a visceral, highly emotional piece in 1975, where the Chosen One’s blood-red dress and her earth-stained skin, emerging from the chorus of dancers, evoke a primitive ritual and transcend the audience.