Today is already the 10th day of the massive social movement in France. The public transport system is still paralysed, with only a reduced service of certain bus lines, and the metro is almost completely down. The French people seem to get more and more annoyed with the strike, especially when we have no choice... Continue Reading →
Since last Thursday, a massive social movement began all around France to demand withdrawal of the government's latest pension reform. While the details of the plan has not yet been unveiled, Macron's proposal for a single pension system, which would eliminate dozens of separate plans for public sector workers, would force millions of people in... Continue Reading →
After nearly one and a half month of rehearsals, a part of the Paris Opera Ballet moved to Opera Bastille to perform Raymonda. It is one of Marius Petipa’s classical ballets, certainly not as popular as his other Tchaikovsky ballets (I.e. Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker......etc). Glazunov’s music for Raymonda clearly do not meet Tchaikovsky’s... Continue Reading →
The results were announced. I was ranked 4th in my class and since there were two places for promotion this year, I was not promoted this time. Feeling disappointed is inevitable. But there's another part of the "results", it's the fact that I tried my best, worked really hard for it, was satisfied with my... Continue Reading →
Napoli Variation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4LSq_XL5Jw Romeo and Juliet Variation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfP2kSMKNMo
During the past three weeks, the dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet had been busy preparing for their Concours de Promotion 2019 while having the usual rehearsals and performances. I myself was no exception, that's why I have been off from this blog for quite some time. The Concours took place last Friday, on 8th... Continue Reading →
This year's Promotional Contest officially started its preparation at the Paris Opera Ballet. It will take place on 6th and 8th November on the stage of the Palais Garnier. We're back to booking studios by sticking a little piece of paper on the studios' door! For the Quadrille men, this year's compulsory variation happens to... Continue Reading →
This afternoon, we finished our 5th performance of the program Sugimoto/Forsythe in Palais Garnier. In total, we will have done 17 performances, so 12 more to go! After our Première (first performance/ opening), we were invited to a cocktail in the Rotonde du Glacier which is a nice little circular hall in the Palais Garnier.... Continue Reading →
I am officially into my 5th season at the Paris Opera Ballet. The company opened its anniversary season (It's been 350 years!) on 20th September. For the first time since I entered the company, I performed after the défilé in Forsythe's BlakeWorks I. Here are some highlights from the evening: Students waiting for défilé rehearsal... Continue Reading →
Two days ago, I was back on this stage, this beautiful and raked stage of the Palais Garnier. The rake seemed steeper than in my memory. Anyway, there's still something magical about this stage. We were having our first stage rehearsal of BlakeWorks I, that we will be shortly performing in the program Sugimoto/Forsythe in... Continue Reading →
