Junior Ballet

Creating Opportunities for Young Talents and New Exchanges Between Artists and Audiences

Designed as a nursery for young talent, the Paris Opera Junior Ballet, launched in May 2024, addresses several key objectives: diversifying dancer profiles, supporting their professional integration, expanding audience engagement through off-site programming and outreach activities, preserving the Paris Opera’s three-century-old expertise, and fostering artistic creation. The Junior Ballet’s program includes repertoire entries as well as original works by established artists and emerging creators.

Recent developments

Initially composed of 18 dancers, the Junior Ballet reached a total of 24 dancers in September 2025.
For the 2025/26 season, the Junior Ballet takes part in the Paris Opera Ballet Parade and presents Requiem for a Rose by Annabelle López Ochoa on the Palais Garnier stage. It also performs alongside the Ballet in Giselle by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, in Theme and Variations by George Balanchine during the RACINES evening, and in La Bayadère by Rudolf Nureyev.
The Junior Ballet begins its off-site performances in May 2025, in France and abroad, with a program featuring five pieces: Allegro brillante by George Balanchine, Cantate 51 by Maurice Béjart, Requiem for a Rose by Annabelle López Ochoa, and Mi Favorita by José Martinez. For the November 2025 tour (24 destinations in France and abroad), the program will be enriched with a contemporary creation by Julian Nicosia, Eternal Rift, for the performances scheduled in Kuala Lumpur.

Did you know?

The Junior Ballet performed publicly for the first time in December 2024 in the heart of AlUla, as part of the partnership between the Opera and La Villa Hegra, a cultural institution shared between Saudi Arabia and France. The young dancers performed Crossings, a piece specially created by choreographer Noé Soulier to harmoniously integrate with the exceptional desert environment. The performers moved in silence, without stage effects, accompanied only by the sound of their steps in the sand, creating a unique dialogue between artistic creation and millennia-old natural heritage.

Available on the Paris Opera streaming platform, POP – Paris Opera Play, the exclusive documentary series Junior Ballet – Dream, Dance, Together! retraces the artistic and human journey of the first cohort of the Paris Opera Junior Company in four 20-minute episodes. Balancing passion, rigor, and shared dreams, the series offers an intimate look at artistic transmission, creation, and the life of an artist within the institution.