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Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo (The Monte Carlo Ballet) is a classical ballet company established in 1985 by the Princess of Hanover in accordance with the wishes of her mother, Princess Grace of Monaco. It is the official national company of the Principality of Monaco.
The first performance took place on 21 December 1985, casting among others several guest stars of the Paris Opera. Directed by Ghislaine Thesmar and Pierre Lacotte, the company rehearsed in the Diaghilev studio, performing on the stage of the Salle Garnier at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo and immediately started touring.
Their repertoire includes works from the Ballets Russes and contemporary pieces from guest choreographers such as Kevin Haigen, John Clifford, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Dieter Ammann, and Uwe Scholz. In 1989, Jean-Yves Esquerre became artistic director, after the departure of Ghislaine Thesmar and Pierre Lacotte one year earlier. [1]
In 1992, Jean-Christophe Maillot joined the company, first as artistic consultant, and was officially promoted to the rank of director-choreographer in September 1993. Four years later, thanks to his vision and energy, the Ballets de Monte-Carlo left the building that had been their historical home, which had by then become too small, and moved into their own dance center, l’Atelier. Furthermore, in December 2000, they inaugurated their first ballet season on the huge stage of the Salle des Princes at the brand new congress center in Monaco, the Grimaldi Forum. These were two turning points in the modern history of the company and the beginning of a new dance era in Monaco.
The Opéra de Monte-Carlo is an opera house which is part of the Monte Carlo Casino located in the Principality of Monaco.
The Paris Opera Ballet is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded as one of the four most prominent ballet companies in the world, together with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, the Mariinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg and the Royal Ballet in London.
Karole Armitage is an American dancer and choreographer currently based in New York City. She is artistic director of Armitage Gone! Dance, a contemporary dance company that performs several times annually in New York City as well as touring internationally. She was dubbed the “punk ballerina” in the 1980s. She earned a Tony nomination for her choreography of the Broadway musical Hair.
La Sylphide is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. Bournonville's is the only version known to have survived and is one of the world's oldest surviving ballets.
Filippo Taglioni was an Italian dancer and choreographer and personal teacher to his own daughter, Romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni. Also, although August Bournonville's version is better known, it was Taglioni who was the original choreographer of La Sylphide, in 1832.
Louis Alexandre Mérante was a dancer and choreographer, the Maître de Ballet of the Paris Opera Ballet at the Salle Le Peletier until its destruction by fire in 1873, and subsequently the first Ballet Master at the company's new Palais Garnier, which opened in 1875. He is best remembered as the choreographer of Léo Delibes' Sylvia, ou la nymphe de Diane (1876). With Arthur Saint-Léon and Jules Perrot, he is one of the three choreographers who defined the French ballet tradition during the Second French Empire and the Third Republic according to choreographer Pierre Lacotte.
The company Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo was formed in 1932 after the death of Sergei Diaghilev and the demise of Ballets Russes. Its director was Wassily de Basil, and its artistic director was René Blum. They fell out in 1936 and the company split. The part which de Basil retained went through two name changes before becoming the Original Ballet Russe. Blum founded Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, which changed its name to Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo when Léonide Massine became artistic director in 1938. It operated under this name until it disbanded some 20 years later.
Noelani Pantastico is an American ballet dancer. She was formerly a principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle and also danced at the Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo in Monaco.
Élisabeth Platel is a French prima ballerina.
The Prix de Lausanne is an international dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition are now leading stars with major ballet companies around the world. The competition is managed by a non-profit foundation organised by the Fondation en faveur de l'Art chorégraphique and is maintained by various sponsors, patrons and donors.
John Clifford is an American producer, director, author, choreographer, and dancer. He was the founder and artistic director of the original Los Angeles Ballet (1974–85) and the chamber-sized touring ensemble, Ballet of Los Angeles (1988–91). Before that time, Clifford was a principal dancer and choreographer with George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet (1966–74). Balanchine invited him back as a guest artist numerous times, and his last performances with the company were in 1980.
Jean-Christophe Maillot is a French dancer and choreographer born in Tours.
Giuseppe Picone is an Italian principal ballet dancer, choreographer, artistic director of the Ballet Company of Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
Artem Vyacheslavovich Ovcharenko is a Russian classical ballet dancer. He is a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and a guest artist with the Hamburg Ballet.
Manuel Legris is a French ballet dancer, born in Paris on October 10, 1964. He was an étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet for 23 years. On September 1, 2010, he began direction of the Vienna State Ballet. He was appointed artistic director of La Scala Theatre Ballet in December 2020.
Françoise Adret was a French ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, and company director.
Bernice Coppieters is a Belgian retired ballet dancer and ballet master. She danced as an étoile at Les Ballets de Monte Carlo and is a long time collaborator of Jean-Christophe Maillot. She is now the principal ballet master at the company and has staged Maillot's productions worldwide.
Pierre Lacotte was a French ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, and company director. He specialised in the reconstruction of lost choreographies of romantic ballets.
Marika Besobrasova was a Monegasque dancer and ballet teacher of Russian origin. She was a founder and a head of Princess Grace Classic Dance Academy in Monte Carlo.
Ghislaine Thesmar is a French retired ballet dancer and choreographer.
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