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Manuel Legris

Manuel Legris (born October 10, 1964, in Paris, France) is a French ballet dancer. He is an étoile (principal dancer) with the Paris Opera Ballet for 23 years. On September 1, 2010, he became the director of the Vienna State Ballet. In December 2020, he was appointed artistic director of the La Scala Theatre Ballet.

Biography

Career as a dancer

Manuel Legris began ballet lessons at the age of 8 under a local ballet teacher, Yvonne Guba. In 1976, at age 11, he joined the Paris Opera Ballet School and entered the Corps de Ballet at 16 in 1980. In 1981, he was promoted to the rank of "Coryphée," followed by a promotion to "Sujet" in 1982. On July 11, 1986, at the age of 21, Legris was named an "Étoile" by stage director Rudolf Nureyev, bypassing the rank of "Premier Danseur." On that day, the company performed Raymonda, choreographed by Nureyev, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where Legris danced the leading role of Jean de Brienne.

Legris established his reputation in both classical and contemporary choreography, attracting the attention of choreographers such as William Forsythe, John Neumeier, Jiří Kylián, and Jerome Robbins. He also received invitations to perform with companies such as the Royal Ballet in London, the New York City Ballet, the Cuban National Ballet, and the Tokyo Ballet, as well as the ballet companies of Monte Carlo, Stuttgart, and Hamburg. John Neumeier created Spring and Fall and A Cinderella Story especially for him.

Legris has performed around the world, including at La Scala in Milan, the Met in New York, the Vienna State Opera Ballet, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and most recently at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. During his tours, he partnered with dancers such as Evelyn Hart, Dominique Khalfouni, Alessandra Ferri, Lorna Feijoo, and Diana Vishneva.

In 1996, Legris founded his own dance troupe, "Manuel Legris et ses Étoiles," in collaboration with Monique Loudières. Together, they aimed to give young dancers the opportunity to take on solo roles still out of reach for them at the Opera, while working with leading choreographers.

In 2003, Legris added two major works to his repertoire: Variations on Carmen by Roland Petit and Phrases of Quartetby Maurice Béjart. That same year, Béjart restaged The Song of a Wayfarer for Legris and Laurent Hilaire, giving them exclusive performance rights.

In February 2004, Legris danced opposite Aurélie Dupont in Jiří Kylián's pas de deux Il faut qu'une porte... at the Paris Opera. He later joined Trisha Brown's O zlozony / O composite, performing alongside Dupont and Nicolas Le Riche.

In December 2005, the Stuttgart Ballet offered Legris the title role in Onegin, where he danced opposite Maria Eichwald.

On November 19, 2007, Legris performed with Dorothée Gilbert, one of his favorite pupils, in The Nutcracker at the Paris Opera. After the performance, she was named an étoile.

Legris officially retired from the Paris Opera stage on May 15, 2009. Many of his former partners, including Clairemarie Osta, Mathias Heymann, and Myriam Ould-Braham, attended his farewell, as did former ballet masters Claude Bessy and Pierre Lacotte, along with France's Minister of Culture and Communication, Christine Albanel. He received a nearly 30-minute standing ovation after being awarded the insignia of "Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres."

Since his retirement, Legris has taken charge of the Vienna State Ballet. From 2010 to 2020, he directed numerous productions for the company, including Rudolf Nureyev's Don Quixote, Onegin, and a triple bill dedicated to Jerome Robbins. After his contract ended in 2020, Legris assumed his current position as the artistic director of La Scala Theatre Ballet.

Awards and distinctions

  • 1984: Gold Medal at the International Dance Competition in Osaka (with Élisabeth Maurin)
  • 1985: Prix Carpeaux Circle
  • 1988: Nijinsky Award
  • 1993: Knight of Arts and Letters
  • 1998: Prix Benois de la Danse
  • 1998: Officer of Arts and Letters
  • 2000: Nijinsky Award (second time)
  • 2002: Knight of the Order of Merit
  • 2006: Knight of the Legion of Honour
  • 2009: Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Filmography

  • Romeo and Juliet (Rudolf Nureyev)
  • Le Spectre de la Rose (Michel Fokine)
  • Notre-Dame de Paris (Roland Petit)
  • L'Arlésienne (Roland Petit)
  • The Sleeping Beauty (Rudolf Nureyev)
  • Don Quixote (Rudolf Nureyev)
  • Sylvia (John Neumeier)
  • Proust, ou les intermittences du coeur (Roland Petit)

Bibliography

Repertory

References
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