When it comes to seeing Paris Opera Ballet, I do not mess around. From the moment I heard about the U.S. tour, I basically checked on a daily basis, where, when, and how to get tickets. I do not exaggerate. Tickets for Chicago came up for sale first, so those tickets were purchased first… then Washington and New York came up around the same time but Washington offered the same programs as Chicago. New York, however, offered Pina Bausch’s Orpheus & Eurydice. I’ve never seen a Pina Bausch performed and I love the story of Orpheus & Eurydice ergo, tickets purchased. And since I was going all the way to NY anyway why not take in another Giselle!

Why not indeed. As luck would have it the Giselle in NY on the date before opening night of O&E would be danced by Nicolas Le Riche and Clairemarie Osta!!! I LOVE Nicolas Le Riche and how cool to see Clairemarie Osta after her retirement! I loved Clairemarie as Giselle, she’s tiny and fragile. Nicolas as Albrecht was simply breathtaking. When he sees the his betrothed’s necklace on Giselle, the expression on his face! As dawn breaks in the forest and bolts up at the base of Giselle’s tomb marker, he looks as thought he has just wakened from a nightmare. So now I’ve seen Nicolas dance Bolero and Albrecht, I am a happy happy camper!

The next night was Orpheus & Eurydice. We had a busy day all over NYC and barely had time to change clothes before heading over to Lincoln Center where we had to sprint across the square since we still had to pick up tickets at the box office – where I literally found myself standing next to Alessandra Ferri!!! After recovering from a mini-stroke where I was rendered speechless, we took our seats. Let ballet begin! The program was a tad bit confusing with regard to the story line. It was divided into segments – Mourning, Violence, Peace, Death – which didn’t exactly make sense to my understanding of the myth. So I decided  not to try to figure it out and let the story unfold. If it was different from my original tale, so be it.

The scenes were gorgeous – modern and symbolic. The lighting was beautiful and rich. The orchestra was wonderful with a full choir in the pit with them. Opera singers sang the roles of Orpheus, Eurydice, and Love while the dancers danced the story. I love opera but I was concerned about how Bausch was going to incorporate the two, opera and ballet, and not muddle the impact and importance of one or both. Well, she did it with such skill, I wish there were more like it. The singers were not static characters to the side but almost ghosts or souls that wandered and gestured and interacted with the story as much as the dancers did.

The costumes were amazing, also modern and symbolic. Leather aprons on Hades’ henchmen; long sweeping and transparent gowns; a McQueen-esque white dress and headpiece on Eurydice during the first scene and the flowing red dress in the last scene – all amazing and well-integrated into the story.

My Orpheus was Stephane Bullion and my Eurydice was Marie-Agnes Gillot. I adore them both. Stephane is very masculine and precise in his movement, precise and soulful. Marie-Agnes is one of the rare dancers that you simply cannot take your eyes off of… and not just her arms or her legs or her feet… you know how sometimes one aspect of a dancer is so compelling you become obsessed with a “part.” With Marie-Agnes the movement of her body is so complete as one perfect unit that you are never distracted by one aspect but engrossed by the fluidity of her whole self as a dancer.

The dance was all very big and sweeping, hints of Martha Graham but never feeling like poached choreography. A myth offered up in German operatic song and modern dance with balletic sensability. In the final scene Orpheus loses Eurydice out of their deep love for each other and Orpheus’ despair leads to his own death. Stephane played his death so fully, so intensely, so painfully that there were several people in the audience not only in tears but the sobbing was audible. It was perhaps one of the most intense and beautiful death scenes I have ever scene. Pina Bausch’s Orpheus & Eurydice is gorgeous, painful, beautiful agony. I was exhausted. I was still in a daze in the lobby of the Koch Theater when Alessandra Ferri walked right up to a person standing next to me, she literally stood less than two feet from me. Then she turned and looked at me still smiling, I dropped dead, and she walked away by herself, probably not in slow motion but I swear to you it sure seemed like it!

It was a great evening… only in New York. Thank you, Paris Opera Ballet. Thank you, New York. Thank you, ballet.

Giselle one night and then the Epic French Masterpieces mixed bill the next night. It can be summed up in one word – glorious. I can honestly say that this was some of the best ballet I have ever seen – evah!

The night opened with Suite en blanc If you are not familiar with this piece you have my deepest pity and sympathies. Suite was created by Serge Lifar for Paris Opera Ballet in 1943. The piece was conceived as a work of pure neoclassical dance and is composed of eight variations. The most beautiful music was composed by Edouard Lalo and it is sublime. It’s actually music for a little known ballet called Namouna but I shall always think of it as the music to Suite en blanc.

The ballet starts with the curtain closed and a long introduction of the most wonderful music, energetic and climbing, it builds the excitement and like a perfect appetizer prepares the palate for the main course. By the time the curtain rises, I am on the very edge of my seat and I was rewarded with the entire ensemble posed in white costumes against an entirely black background. The audience literally gasps as one.

The variations:

La Sieste danced by Marie-Solène Boulet, Sarah Kora Dayanova, and Laura Hecquet

Theme Varie danced by Emilie Cozette, Karl Paquette, and Stéphane Bullion

Serenade danced by Nolwen Daniel

Pas de Cinq danced by Alice Renavand, Cyril Mitilian, Fabien Révillion, Daniel Stokes, and Sébastien Bertaud

La Cigarette danced by Marie-Agnès Gillot (AAAAHHHHHH!!!!)

Mazurka danced by Mathieu Ganio

Adage danced by Aurélie Dupont and Benjamin Pech

and La Flute danced by Dorothée Gilbert

Of special note was Marie-Agnès Gillot (who is on the cover of Dance Magazine this month looking unreal and glamorous) whose dancing is ravenous – she positively eats the floor. I adore her. There is an innate power, an authority that just rings through her every movement.

Aurélie Dupont and Benjamin Pech were perfection – PER-FECT-ION. They would look into each other eyes and smile with pure joy and that joy absolutely radiated through their movement, their dancing elevated from steps to art.

This piece was a special treat as well because Paris Opera Ballet offers us a glimpse of the défilé by wearing their défilé “costumes” for this number and beginning the piece with the company staging that is similar (on a whole lot smaller scale of course). What an amazing and special evening. If you are unfamiliar with the Paris Opera Ballet défilé it is the presentation of the entire school and company in a sort of ballet parade. It’s done on special occasions and it’s very beautiful and moving and special to POB.

After an intermission, L’Arlésienne was danced by Isabelle Ciaravola and Jérémie Bélingard. This was my first experience with the ballet as a whole, I’ve only previously seen pieces on YouTube. It’s a gorgeous, emotional dance. But I will note that although technically perfect, Jérémie Belingard’s acting left a bit to be desired. This is a Roland Petit piece and I have to say Petit choreography is usually filled with opportunities for dancers to act, but I was left not sure if Jérémie was having a migraine or heartbroken for Vivette, his unfaithful Arlésienne. The minimalist sets were wonderful though, not too much, perfectly enough.

The last offering was Boléro. Boléro… ballet porn. Holy crap – Boléro. If you are not familiar with Boléro, sell a kid or a kidney and get yourself to NYC in a couple of weeks to see this program while you can. I saw Nicolas Le Riche dance the principal role. I love Nicolas Le Riche. I love him even more now. Boléro is a Maurice Béjart dance to music by Maurice Ravel. The basic gist – principal dancer on a table, tons of shirtless men sitting on chairs around the table. Principal dancer starts dancing, shirtless men join in. Tribal, sensual, heady, energetic, erotic, Boléro has it all. For the principal dancer, Boléro is fifteen minutes of non-stop movement… non-stop. If you don’t realize how LONG fifteen minutes can be, try it, I dare you. And as the music builds the dance gets harder and more extreme. Just when Nicolas should be ready to lie down and pant from exhaustion, a smile brights up his entire face and he bounds into jumps and drops into splits. If it weren’t amazing enough, he makes you understand that he is having FUN! I love those moments, when a dancers’ face and body say “yeah, baby!” The audience ate it up and cried for more, the ovation was almost as long as the dance. We simply didn’t want to let him go.

What a brilliant night, so beautiful, so electrifying, so satisfying! Ballet at it’s best. Thank you, Paris Opera Ballet for coming to America, Merci beaucoup!