Stupor and trembling at the Paris Opera Ballet competition. The title, borrowed from an Asian novel by Amélie Nothomb, describes the days of November 9 and 10 at the Palais Garnier very exactly. The quadrilles and coryphées competed to reach the upper class under the watchful eye of José Martinez, who sat on the jury for the first time as director of the ballet. The girls got the ball rolling on Thursday, followed by the boys on Friday. The number of vacancies was high: three for subjects and five for coryphaea in women, four for subjects and six for coryphaea in men. In the morning, José Martinez had posted a reassuring message on his Facebook page for the candidates to leave the stress behind and take the whole stage to show their personality. Easy to say...
The principle of a ballet of 150 people with a hierarchy means that there are many called and few chosen. So much for the tremors. To this we will add...
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