Paris Opera Ballet

The Paris Opera Ballet is the resident ballet company of the Paris Opera. Founded in 1669, it is one of the oldest continuously active ballet companies in the world.

Académie Royale de Danse: A French dance academy founded by Louis XIV in 1661 to codify and promote dance. It helped establish royal institutions that shaped the company’s early artistic and professional traditions.
Paris Opera Ballet School: The Paris Opera’s dance school, which trains young dancers in classical ballet and prepares many for company auditions. It is a principal training route into the company.
Pierre Beauchamp: A French dancer and choreographer who helped codify ballet technique and served as the Académie Royale de Danse’s first director. His work shaped the classical vocabulary inherited by the company.
La Sylphide: A ballet choreographed by Filippo Taglioni and premiered in Paris in 1832, often cited as an early Romantic ballet. Its Paris premiere places the company’s historical home at the center of Romantic ballet.
Royal Ballet: A British ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in London. It is a prominent national company with a distinct British institutional history and repertory.
Académie Royale de Musique: The French royal opera institution established in 1669, later known as the Paris Opera. The company’s institutional roots lie in this opera organization.
Ballet company hierarchy: The rank structure that organizes dancers in a ballet company, from corps de ballet to principal roles. Its ranks govern casting, promotion, and professional status within the ensemble.
Jean-Georges Noverre: An eighteenth-century French dancer and choreographer who argued for expressive, dramatically coherent ballet. His ideas influenced the theatrical traditions in which the company developed.
Giselle: A Romantic ballet first performed in Paris in 1841, with choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The company maintains a celebrated production of this foundational work.
Bolshoi Ballet: A Russian ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Its theatrical scale and Russian traditions provide a useful comparison with the Paris company.

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