Les Enfants du Paradis Ballet in two acts by José Martinez

9th July 2011

PARIS OPERA BALLET

Ballet in two acts by José Martinez – After the scenario by Jacques Prévert

Les Enfants du Paradis, created in 2008, is José Martinez's first major ballet for the Company. Through the memories of the mime Baptiste, the choreography brings to life a long-gone Paris, revealing the magical world of entertainment where the frontiers between reality and illusion are sometimes so tenuous.

The Étoiles, Principal Dancers and Corps de Ballet
Paris Opera Orchestra

Jean-François Verdier Conductor

Presentation

Les Enfants du Paradis, drawing on Jacques Prévert's scenario for the film by Marcel Carné, is dancer Étoile José Martinez's first major ballet for the Company. The choreography brings to life a long-gone Paris, that of the "Boulevard du Crime" in the first half of the 19th century with its artists, its theatres and its cabarets. In Ezio Toffolutti's sets suggestive of a movie set and with costumes by dancer Étoile Agnès Letestu, the mime Baptiste unreels the thread of his memories: his meeting with Garance, his impossible love for that marvellous and elusive woman, the magical world of entertainment, the stage, the wings and the frontiers between reality and illusion, sometimes so tenuous. To an original score by Marc-Olivier Dupin, the choreography alternates large ensembles with the intimacy of the lovers' pas de deux.

Marc-Olivier Dupin: Music
José Martinez: Choreography (Opéra national de Paris, 2008)
François Roussillon et José Martinez: Adaptation
Ezio Toffolutti: Sets
Agnès Letestu: Costumes
André Diot: Lighting

Les Enfants du Paradis Ballet in two acts by José Martinez | Danza Ballet