About

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…).

« See music and listen to dance »
Georges Balanchine

Created in 2010, Alexandra Cardinale Opera Ballet Production presents ballet evenings, putting at the center of her artistic commitments the transmission of the heritage of the great classical repertoire and the discovery of contemporary creations.

AC Opéra Ballet Production creates the Gala d’Étoile Ballets evening: A prestigious show accessible to all, where the international Etoiles and soloists of the Paris Opera offer the public the dream of an evening at the Opera.

In 2013, the star dancer Isabelle Ciaravola asked AC Opéra Ballet Production to produce her ballet evenings “Isabelle Ciaravola and her soloists”.

Since 2017, AC Opéra Ballet Production has also presented the latest creations of Ballet Julien Lestel: Rencontres, Rodin, Mosaiques, Dream, MisaTango, Puccini as well as the Webseries L’Eternal et l’Ephemère, realized at the Rodin Museum, the Museum of modern Art in Paris and the Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac (2021).

Since 2023, Étoile dancer Hugo Marchand has entrusted him with the production and direction of Les Étoiles au Château evenings in emblematic places of French heritage in order to offer exceptional, accessible shows to all, at the single price of €13 and ensure that these castles, jewels of our historical heritage, become actors of living heritage, and are transformed for a weekend into sublime setting for the dancers of the Paris Opera.
Hugo Marchand and Alexandra Cardinale are keen to consider dance as a gateway to creating connections and wonder. By taking dance out of theaters, it can be an interesting tool for reclaiming one’s body, educating, experimenting with the collective and sometimes healing.
Thanks to the support of local authorities, the social impact of the Hugo Marchand pour la Danse association is reinforced through the arrival of a priority audience and the organization of mediation moments with a young audience each weekend.
Alexandra Cardinale never ceases to put her sensitivity and her demands at the service of dance, its dissemination and its promotion while designing high-tech scenographic montages.

Sharing our art only makes sense if it is accessible to everyone. AC Opéra Ballet Production is committed to associations working for Disability, such as La Résidence Soleil in Massy, ​​by running classes in the studios of the Opéra de Massy with autistic children and adults and by creating meetings in the form of introductory dance and body expression workshops.

AC Opéra Ballet Production also initiated a project with La Ligue contre le Cancer to allow children from the pediatric oncology department of the southern hospital in Rennes as well as their families and nursing staff to attend the dress rehearsal of Gala d ‘Stars at the Couvent des Jacobins.… Project which was also presented at the Théâtre du Casino Barrière in Lille.

AC Opéra Ballet Production actively works with charitable organizations to support causes that are dear to us, such as Le Gala Marseille Espérance, or Le Bal Bleu – Belharra – 24hrs for the Ocean at the Théâtre du Casino Barrière in Deauville.

In 2024, AC Opéra Ballet Production continues to promote cultural inclusion by inviting numerous associations to dress rehearsals and performances. During these sessions, this public, which has little access to places of culture, has the unique opportunity to discover behind the scenes of the show and can observe and admire the artists and technicians working together to create an unforgettable experience.

Outside the walls, AC Opera Ballet Production is invited to produce exceptional events, such as “the Jewels of Majestic” on the beach of the Majestic Hotel in Cannes or at the Royal Monceau – Palace Raffles, Paris …

A hundred performances have already taken place in front of more than 100 000 spectators, during which success has been at the rendezvous, on the stages of the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, the Palais des Congrès in Issy-les-Moulineaux, the Deauville International Center, The Palais des Congrès de Paris, the Palais des Congrès Atlantia de la Baule, the Congress Center of Rennes Métropole or the Casino Barrière theaters.

AC Opéra Ballet Production also supports the production of documentary films such as “Les Adieux”, a film directed by Arnaud Dreyfus, retracing the last role on the stage of the Paris Opera by Etoile dancer Clairemaire Osta , or the short film directed by Clara Ballatore with Nicolas Le Riche or a documentary on Madame Claude Bessy, former Director of the Ballet Dance School of the Paris National Opera directed by Jean-Yves Esquerre, Director of the European School of Ballet (Amsterdam).