Hervé Moreau and Eleonora Abbagnato

 

Hervé Moreau and Eleonora Abbagnato join Yuja Wang and Gautier Capuçon in a vibrant homage to Roland Petit at the St Prex Classics 2012.

Saint-Prex, Aug 14, 2012 The St Prex Classics is happy and proud to announce that Hervé Moreau and Eleonora Abbagnato will perform in a vibrant homage to choreographer Roland Petit at the soirées of August 27 and 28.

Hervé Moreau and Eleonora Abbagnato, two of the Paris Opera Ballet’s most talented artists, replace the dancers initially announced for these evenings and who will not be performing this year at Saint-Prex. Thanks to a close relationship with the Paris Opera that goes back to 2009, the St Prex Classics was instantly able to ensure the presence of these top dancers.

Hervé Moreau and Eleonora Abbagnato, together with the star musicians will allow the St Prex Classics to render this vibrant homage to Roland Petit on the first anniversary of his death. Pianist Yuja Wang and cellist Gautier Capuçon are delighted with their new partners. The program for the soirées will feature the choreography of Roland Petit, including the celebrated Cheek to Cheek, raised to iconic status by Zizi Jeanmaire.

Hervé Moreau is a star dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet. After starting to dance at the age of five, he joined the Paris Opera’s dance school in 1989; he has been part of the ballet corps since 1995. His first big role at the Palais Garnier was as Siegfried in Swan Lake in October 2002. He is a favourite of John Neumeier, who regularly turns to him for performances of his work at the Paris Opera: he has also been cast in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Lady of the Camellias, Mahler’s Third Symphony and Sylvia. In 2002 he was awarded the Prix de l’AROP and, four years later, the Prix Benois de la Danse for his role in The Lady of the Camellias.

Eleonora Abbagnato is a principal dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet. Roland Petit spotted her in 1992 and chose her to be Aurore as a child in his version of Sleeping Beauty. This gained her entry to the Paris Opera dance school. She was a finalist in the Concours de Varna in 1998, the year in which she won the Prix du Cercle Carpeaux. She is regularly invited to dance in her home country, Italy, particularly at Milan’s La Scala and the San Carlo in Naples. She has also appeared in a number of films. In November 2009 she published her autobiography, Un angelo sulle punte (An angel on tiptoe).

St Prex Classics
Created in 2006, St Prex Classics is a multi-disciplinary, international music festival, bringing together chamber music, ballet and voices from opera. The 2012 St Prex Classics will take place from August 23 to September 2 when it will witness performances by internationally renowned stars such as Nigel Kennedy, Murray Perahia, Yuja Wang, Roby Lakatos, Michel Legrand and Natalie Dessay in the new ‘Luna’ stage.

 Hervé Moreau and Eleonora Abbagnato

 ©2012 Danza Ballet

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