Alexandra Cardinale was admitted by competition at the age of ten to the École de
danse du Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, directed by Claude Bessy.
During her six years of selection and training in classical and contemporary dance, she also pursued traditional schooling. Claude Bessy entrusted her with the leading roles in the prisoner of the Caucasus and in The Fille Mal Gardée at the Palais Garnier.
In July 1993, she came out first in the Entry Competition to the Corps de Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris under the direction of Patrick Dupond. From his first year in the Opera Ballet, the latter invited her to dance “outside the walls” in his personal tours (Patrick Dupond and friends).
She was raised to the rank of Corypheus by interpreting the variation of Carmen de Roland Petit under the direction of Brigitte Lefèvre. She has danced all the great works of the classical repertoire: La Bayadère, Le Lac des Cygnes, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote by Rudolph Noureev, Les Ballets by George Balanchine, Roland Petit, Serge Lifar, Vaslav Nijinski, Jerome Robbins, Pierre Lacotte, Maurice Béjart… and also contemporary works: Pina Bausch, William Forsythe, Angelin Preljocaj or Wayne McGregor … chose her for their creations at the Opera.
Under the direction of Benjamin Millepied, then director of the Paris Opera, she participated in the event “20 dancers for the 20th century” by Boris Charmatz in the Grand Foyer of the Palais Garnier. She also participated in the creation of visual artist Tino Sehgal.
Marie-Claude Pietragalla entrusted him with the role of principal dancer in the ballet Don Quichotte at the Opéra National de Marseille.
She has participated in international tours of the Paris Opera and galas as as a guest, contributing to the fame of French ballet (Metropolitan Opera, New York – NHK, Japan – Kremlin, Russia – Kiev Opera, Ukraine – Beijing Grand National Theater and Shanghai Opera, China – La Scala in Milan, La Fenice in Venice, Italy – Vienna Opera – Singapore – Argentina – Finland – Spain – United Arab Emirates…).
In 2018, Alexandra bid farewell to the stage of the Paris Opera after 30 years with this prestigious institution. Since then, she has continued her career as a soloist dancer, while also producing a wide variety of ballets. Her greatest wish is to introduce people to dance and share the emotions evoked by this art form.
Alongside her dance career, Alexandra Cardinale earned a degree in Entrepreneurship and Management from Sciences Po Paris, as well as a State Diploma as a dance teacher from the National Dance Center (CND).
In 2010, Alexandra Cardinale founded AC Opéra Ballet Production to showcase exceptional ballet evenings such as Gala d’Étoiles, which has become a benchmark and highly anticipated event. Driven by contemporary creation, she dances and contributes to the production of the latest choreographies by Ballet Julien Lestel.
Since 2023, Étoile dancer Hugo Marchand has entrusted her with the production and realization of the evenings Les Etoiles au Château, held in emblematic French heritage sites to make dance accessible to all and provide a prestigious stage for the Étoiles of the Paris Opera.
Alexandra Cardinale tirelessly applies her sensitivity and high standards to serve dance, its dissemination, and promotion, while also designing scenographic setups of advanced technicality.
In June 2024, she was honored with the distinction of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
