NICOLAS LE RICHE

Star dancer
from the Paris Opera Ballet

Nicolas Le Riche joined in 1982 the Paris Opera Dance School, which Claude Bessy directed. During the six years of his curriculum the young dancer had as Master the dancer Etoile Serge Peretti.

Nicolas Le Riche joined the Ballet Corps of the Paris Opera in 1988, at the age of sixteen.
He was promoted to Corypheus in 1989, Sujet in 1990 and First Dancer in 1991. Nicolas Le Riche was the winner of the Cercle Carpeaux award.

It was at that time that he danced under the direction of Rudolf Nureev, who pushed his early career by giving him the roles of Mercutio and then Romeo in Romeo and Juliet.
Nicolas Le Riche was appointed Etoile by Patrick Dupond on July 27, 1993, after playing the role of the Prince in Giselle.

Nicolas Le Riche is one of Sylvie Guillem’s favorite partners, with whom he has often danced in France and abroad, notably in Marguerite and Armand, a ballet created by Rudolf Noureev and Margot Fonteyn. Roland Petit created for him in 1999 the ballet Clavigo and made Nicolas the rich the emblematic performer of his piece Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, which he danced for the first time with Marie-Claude Pietragalla. Nicolas Le Riche has interpreted classical and contemporary roles, refusing to establish any partitioning between two facets of one and the same art.

Nicolas Le Riche has also performed on the stage of the world’s largest companies such as Bolshoi, Mariinsky, London’s Royal Ballet, Tokyo Theater or New York City Ballet.

In addition, he has created his own choreographies since 2001, while continuing his career as a star of the Opéra de Paris. In 2005, he created Caligula, a five-act ballet on the music of the four Seasons of Vivaldi and a libretto by Guillaume Gallienne where he was inspired by the life of the Roman emperor. In 2007, he designed an all-public show for the Paris Opera, combining dance, music, painting and photography. This show, called Echo, was presented at the Bastille Amphitheater.

On 31 December 2008, he took over the role of soloist in the Boléro de Béjart at the Paris Opera. In 2009, he performed the lead role for the entry into the repertoire of the Paris Opera of the ballet John Neumeier’s Third Symphony of Mahler. In 2009, he performed the role of Eugène Onéguine in Cranko’s Onéguine. In 2009, he first addressed the mythical roles of the Ballets Russians at the Paris Opera: The fauna in the Afternoon of a Fauna, created by Nijinsky, and Petrouchka in the ballet of the same name.

In 2012, he performed William Forsythe’s Rearray on the stage of the Theater des Champs-Élysées with Sylvie Guillem. In the same year, he danced at a Gathering by Jerome Robbins and Appartment by Swedish choreographer Mats Ek.
For the 2013–2014 season, he participated in the creation of Saburo Teshigawara entitled Darkness is Hiding Black Horses8 and performed alongside Aurélie Dupont, the Park of Angelin Preljocaj, then Mademoiselle Julie by Swedish choreographer Birgit Cullberg. Nicolas Le Riche is one of the nominees of the National Dance awards 2014, thanks to his performance in Le Jeune Homme and La Mort de Roland Petit with the English National Ballet.

In April 2014, the French tour of his own show “itinerances” began accompanied by Clairemarie Osta, Eleonora Abbagnato, Russell Maliphant and Isabelle Ciaravola. A show in which five works were performed: Critical Mass and Shift by Russell Maliphant, the Young Man and Death by Roland Petit, Annunciation by Angelin Preljocaj and Odyssée (Pas de Deux choreographed by Nicolas the Rich himself).

Nicolas Le Riche also danced with the greatest stars of the Paris Opera such as Elisabeth Platel, Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Aurélie Dupont and Marie-Agnès Gillot. Nevertheless, he maintains a privileged partnership with Sylvie Guillem.

A virtuoso dancer, equipped with a sophisticated technique and an impressive jump power, Nicolas Le Riche is also a sensitive performer chosen by the greatest choreographers of our century, evolving both in the classical repertoire and in contemporary dance.

Guillaume Gallienne, a friend of the dancer’s, said:
« He leaps like a tiger, flies like an angel and lands like a cat. »
A great music enthusiast, displaying very eclectic tastes, ranging from classical to pop, he also performed on stage in November 2012 during a concert by Mathieu Chedid; he plays the guitar, the clarinet and indulges in watercolour.

On July 9, 2014, he bade farewell to the Paris Opera at 42, the retirement age for this house.
His farewell gave rise to an exceptional evening whose only architect was Nicolas Le Riche himself. It was composed of ballets danced in their entirety – the Young Man and Death (small), the Afternoon of a Fauna (Nijinski) and the Bolero (Béjart) – and excerpts: Suite of dances by Jerome Robbins, Caligula de Le Riche, Raymonda by Rudolf Nureev, Les Forains de Roland Petit, Le Bal des Cadets de Lichine. His ballets marked the career of the dancer during his 24 years with the Parisian company. The evening was also marked by the arrival of special guests, friends of Nicolas Le Riche: Guillaume Gallienne read a text in tribute to the dancer, Mathieu Chedid performed on guitar the score of Suite of dances on the stage of the opera Garnier and Sylvie Guillem joined Nicolas Le Riche during the final salute. The evening ended with a standing ovation of several minutes.

In 2015, Nicolas Le Riche created and directed, with his wife Clairemarie Osta, The Atelier des Arts choreographiques (LAAC) at the Champs Elysée Theater.

AGNÈS LETESTU

Danseuse Étoile
du Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris

Agnès Letestu débute à l’École de Danse de l’Opéra de Paris, elle intègre en 1987 la compagnie, alors dirigée par Rudoph Noureev. Elle remporte le Grand Prix de l’Eurovision des jeunes danseurs en 1989 et la Médaille d’or au Concours de Varna en 1990. Première Danseuse en 1993, elle est nommée Étoile à l’issue de la représentation du Lac des Cygnes, le 31 octobre 1997.
Interprète privilégiée des grands rôles du répertoire : Giselle, Juliette, La Bayadère, Raymonda, Aurore, Kitri, Paquita, Cendrillon…elle excelle également dans les œuvres de Balanchine, Carlson, Ek, Forsythe, Kylian, Lacotte, Li, Lifar, McGregor, Noureev ou Robbins. Elle fait ses adieux officiels à l’Opéra de Paris le 10 octobre 2013 dans La Dame aux Camélias de Neumeier.
Elle crée “Dancing piano” en 2018 avec la pianiste Edna Stern dans lequel elle interprète des créations contemporaines originales et dessine tous les costumes du spectacle, présenté entre autres, au festival de Lacoste, en tournée au Japon, à Genève…
En 2021, Elle interprète et conçoit les costumes de la création Aliénor, variation sur l’amour courtois mise en scène chorégraphique de Alain Marty, présentée au théâtre du Gymnase, à Paris.
Elle crée également le rôle de la mère de Gilda, dans l’Opéra Rigoletto de Richard Brunel, chorégraphie de Maxime Thomas.
Parallèlement à sa carrière de danseuse, elle conçoit entre autres les costumes pour les créations de José Martinez : Scaramouche, Mi Favorita, Les Enfants du Paradis, Delibes Suite, Parenthèse 1 et Sonatas (pour l’Opéra de Paris et la Compagnie Nationale de Danse, à Madrid).
Elle est invitée comme professeur et maître de ballet dans de nombreuses compagnies comme l’Opéra de Paris, l’Opéra de Rome, le theâtre San Carlo de Naples, le théâtre Massimo de Palerme, l’Opéra National de Slovénie, l’Opéra National d’Estonie, la Compagnie Nationale de Danse à Madrid, le Ballet National de Chine.
Elle est Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur et Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite.

GERMAIN LOUVET

Star dancer
from the Paris Opera Ballet

Germain Louvet began dancing at the age of 4 at the National Conservatory of Chalonsur- Saone Region. He joined the Paris Opera Dance School in 2005 and attended all his classes until 2011. He joined the Corps de Ballet de l’Opéra as a quadrille in September 2011 and then rose to the rank of Coryphée in November 2013. He won the Carpeaux Circle Prize in 2013. He was promoted to Sujet in 2014.
He has participated in the great ballets of the repertoire, from Rudolf Nureev to Carolyn Carlson, Georges Balanchine, Serge Lifar, Adolf Adam, John Neumeier, Frederick Ashton, Pierre Lacotte, José Martinez… and participated in official tours in Australia, Japan, Russia. Benjamin Millepied, then Director of the Opera Ballet, chose him for his creations. Barely promoted to First Dancer in November 2016, Germain Louvet was appointed a Star dancer by Madame Aurélie Dupont during the performance of Swan Lake on December 28, 2016.

ROXANE STOJANOV

Étoile Dancer
of the Paris Opera Ballet

Roxane Stojanov was born on August 17, 1995, in Auch, Gers. In 2002, she began dancing in a small school in Macedonia. She joined the Paris Opera Ballet School in 2007, where she completed her training until 2013. During her studies, she was entrusted with soloist roles, including ” Dessin pour six ” by John Taras, ” Symphony in Three Movements ” by Nils Christe, ” The Cadets’ Ball ” by David Lichine as ” The Young Girl “, variations of Violette Verdy as ” The Dancer in Yellow “, ” Péchés de Jeunesse ” by Jean-Guillaume Bart, and ” The Night of Walpurgis ” by Claude Bessy after Léo Staat in the role of ” Hélène “.

In 2013, she joined the Corps de Ballet of the Paris Opera Ballet and was cast in major productions. In 2016, she was promoted to Coryphée.

She became Sujet in 2018, received the AROP Dance Prize in 2020, and was appointed Première Danseuse in 2021. She was promoted to Etoile Dancer by José Martinez following the performance of Paquita by Pierre Lacotte at the Palais Garnier on December 28, 2024.

@roxanestojanov

Marion Barbeau

First dancer
of the Paris Opera Ballet

Marion Barbeau joined the Paris Opera School of Dance in 2002 after spending a year at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Danse in Paris.
In 2008 she joined the Ballet de l’Opéra where she danced many great classical ballets from the Opera repertoire such as Swan Lake, Nutcracker or Raymonda by Rudolph Noureev and some creations such as Wayne McGregor’s L’Anatomie de la Sensation. She also took part in several tours and performed semi-soloist roles: “Aricie” in Phèdre by Serge Lifar, “La Demoiselle d’Honneur” in Don Quixote by Rudolph Noureev, and “Pas de Trois” in Paquita by Pierre Lacotte.
She was promoted to Corypheus in 2012 and later to Sujet in November 2015.

She was appointed first dancer in 2021.

Vincent Chaillet

First dancer
of the Paris Opera Ballet

Born in Metz where he began dancing, Vincent Chaillet joined the Paris Opera School in 1995 and joined the Corps de Ballet in 2002.

Promoted to First Dancer in 2009, he dances the main roles of ballets from the classical repertoire, stands out for his interpretation of “character” characters and collaborates with the greatest choreographers of the contemporary scene.
In parallel with his activity as a performer, he has been regularly invited since 2018 as Professor or Ballet Master at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, at the Ballet de l’Opéra National du Rhin, at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and at the Ballet of the National Opera of Paris.

He left the Parisian company in 2021 and joined the Ballet de l’Opéra National du Capitole de Toulouse for a season as Ballet Master, before resuming his activities as an independent artist.

He performs on the biggest international stages, and recently on tour in Japan, Geneva, Terrassa, Milan, Belfast, Tel Aviv and Paris with partner Agnès Letestu (Dancing Piano, Aliénor, Ravel…) or in collaboration with Noé Soulier (The Realm of Shadows / White Sign).

He founded with the lyrical singer Edwin Crossley-Mercer the Festival Castel Artès, in Mirepoix (Ariège) of which they have been the artistic directors for three editions.

As a choreographer, he began by creating various solos and pas de deux which he interpreted and transmitted, then worked for the theater with Catherine Frot and Vincent Dedienne (La Carpe et le Lapin) or Julie-Anne Roth (Birthday).

He is currently signing the choreographies of Carmen at the Opéra de Rouen, and will continue in early 2024 with Roméo & Juliette at the Opéra de Dallas, as well as La Gioconda at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.

He is also collaborating with Prime Video (Amazon) on a new series around dance, the shooting of which will begin soon.

NATALIA DE FROBERVILLE

Star dancer
from the Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse
Born in Perm, Russia, Natalia de Froberville was trained at the National Ballet School in Kiev, Ukraine. After winning the Prix de Lausanne in 2001, and several prizes at the Moscow International Competition, she was appointed principal dancer of the Kiev Opera Ballet. From 2002 to 2010, she performed all the major roles of the academic repertoire (Kitri/Don Quichotte, Giselle, Odette-Odile/Swan Lake, etc.). In 2010, she joined the Ballet de l’Opéra de Perm where she was a principal dancer (Jerome Robbins: Autumn / Les Quatre Saisons, La Ballerine / the Concert; William Forsythe: Tracy / the second Detail; George Balanchine: Kammermusik n°2 (soloist), Tarentella, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Rubis/Jewels, Polyhymnia/Apollon Musagète; Kenneth Mc Millan: Juliette Romeo and Juliet), Irina Winter Dreams; Rostislav Zakharov: Maria/ La Fontaine de Bakhtchisaraï…) For Alexei Miroschnichenko, director of the Perm Ballet, she created the role of Shutiha in Le Bouffon, and that of Masha in Hypothetically Murdered, the world premiere of a new ballet by Dmitri Shostakovich. For this role, she was nominated as Best Dancer with Golden Masks 2016, the highest awards in Russia in the field of dance and opera. In 2015-2016, Charles Jude invited her to the Bordeaux National Opera in Giselle (title role) and The Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora). She left the Perm Opera Ballet in June 2016 to join the Capitol Ballet. Under the direction of Kader Belarbi, she discovered new challenges and a wide repertoire. Kader Belarbi gave her the lead role in his own versions of Giselle (title role), Corsaire (the beautiful slave), Don Quixote (Kitri), or The Nutcracker (Clara). She has also danced the title role in Roland Petit’s Carmen, Mme de Merteuil in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Davide Bombana), A million kisses to My skin (David Dawson), the Vertiginous Thrill of Accuracy (William Forsythe), Fugaz(Cayetano Soto). In January 2017, she was invited to the Royal Ballet of Flanders to dance the role of Phrygia in Yuri Grigorovitch’s Spartacus. Throughout her career, she has participated in numerous galas and tributes, with partners Leonid Sarafanov (Mikhaylovsky Theater of St. Petersburg), Daniil Simkin (American Ballet Theater), Andrei Batalov and Denis Matvienko (Mariinski Theater of St. Petersburg), Morihiro Iwata (Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow) and Noah Gelber (The William Forsythe Company).

She was appointed Étoile du Ballet de l’Opéra national du Capitole in Toulouse in October 2018.

LETIZIA GALLONI

Soloist
of the Paris Opera Ballet

Letizia Galloni joined the Paris Opera School of Dance in 2001, and in 2009 she joined the Corps de Ballet of the Paris Opera. She was promoted to Corypheus in 2011. She has danced in many great classical ballets of the Opera repertoire such as Giselle by Jean Coralli/Jules Perrot, Cinderella by Rudolf Noureev, Paquita by Pierre Lacotte … she has been quickly entrusted with the roles as semi-soloist: Soloist of Arabic dance and Pastoral in Nutcracker, the Pas de Trois and the 4 Great Swans in the Swan Lake of Rudolf Nureev. She danced as a soloist in Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardée as Lise and in Pina Bausch’s Rites of Spring, as the Chosen One. She also performed in works by contemporary choreographers such as Mats Ek, Angelin Preljocaj, William Forsythe, Pina Bausch, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Benjamin Millepied. She has also participated in the creations of Wayne McGregor’s L’Anatomie de la Sensation, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Bolero, Clear Light Bright Forward and Benjamin Millepied’s Night Ends.
She won the AROP Dance Award in 2018 and was promoted to Sujet in 2019.

JACK GASZTOWTT

Soloist
of the Paris Opera Ballet

Jack Gasztowtt entered the Paris Opera Dance School in 2011. He did all his training
there. In 2017, he joined the Ballet Corps of the Opéra de Paris. He has participated in all major productions at the Palais Garnier and the Opéra Bastille. In 2022, he was promoted to Corypheus and then Sujet.