It is not enough to have been a great dancer and then a teacher at the Paris Opera to be qualified as a “master”.
Unquestionably, Attilio Labis was one.
By his charisma on stage and the intelligence with which he transmitted in the studios.
His death at the age of 86, Thursday January 26, triggered a host of testimonies.
Several generations of stars, that of Manuel Legris, Laurent Hilaire, then that of Nicolas Le Riche or Karl Paquette have benefited from his teaching at the dance school.
At the Conservatory, he particularly made Isabelle Ciaravola work.
But Myriam Ould Braham, still a star today, admits owing her a lot of her art.
As if his teaching carried from one star to another should sparkle endlessly.
And it is to this, without a doubt, that
Born in 1936 to a Sicilian father and a French mother, Attilio Labis began his training at the Paris Opera Ballet School at the age of nine.
He joined the Corps de Ballet in 1954, was promoted to "Premier Danseur" in 1960 and was named "Etoile" in 1961. With brown, supple hair, clear eyes, and a slender build, Attilio Labis struck with his beauty.
Gene Kelly, who arrived at the Paris Opera in 1960 to create
Pas de Dieux
, entrusted him with the leading role as well as Claude Bessy.
The two go hand in hand: charisma and slaughter, ingredients of a solar dance that turns the show into a party.
Impressed, Serge Lifar entrusts him with the role of "Icarus" resumed in 1962, in a decor by Picasso and on music by Honegger.
He will also guide him for "Giselle" where he will be the partner of
Labbis interprets the princes of the classical repertoire, dances
Coppélia
,
Roméo et Juliette
and creates
La Symphonie Concertante
et
But
by Michel Descombey (1963) as well as
Renard
by a certain Maurice Béjart (1965).
At 36, he left Paris for an international career.
He is such a good partner that women fight over him.
He dances with Claire Motte, Christiane Vlassi, his wife, Noëlla Pontois, but also with Margot Fonteyn, Rosella Hightower, Carla Fracci, Natalia Makarova or Elisabetta Terabust.
Choreographer, he set his versions of
Spartacus
,
Romeo and Juliet
,
Nutcracker
,
Scheherazade
and created
Arcades
in 1964 for the Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris, a ballet which entered the repertoire of the École de Danse in 1981.
At 36, he left Paris for an international career.
He is such a good partner that women fight over him.
Above, in Swan Lake with Claude Bessy.
Bmo / Bnf Peak Fund
Then he becomes a teacher.
In the ballet and at the school of the Opera, at the National Conservatory and at Stanlowa.
He also multiplies as a competition juror.
Attilio Labbis is on the lookout for the dancers of tomorrow: "
He was extremely generous when he had a talent in his hands
“, notes Manuel Legris.
The classic fascinates him.
He is everywhere, does not give in to the stuffy, approaches the dancers with a good-natured relaxation, then guides them with an enthusiasm that gives way to real subtlety.
In addition, he is virile, advocates the perfect harmony in the adage, discipline which he marks durably.
It takes the art of the pas de deux to incandescent heights: at the same time it gives all the tricks to carry and be carried, but it also requires that the dancer sublimates his partner.
The remarkable thing is that from the bottom of the studio, Labbis keeps his charisma intact and knows how to go straight to the point.
“
Few words were enough to guide us, simple, precise, implacable
”, writes Laurent Novis in tribute.
"
Thank you so much dear Attilio for everything you have given us, your smile, your kindness, your stubbornness in defending the cause of classical dance and your vision of the Grand Opéra de Paris, your love of our art and teaching
» , writes Gil Isoart.
The finest tribute paid by his former students is undoubtedly that of the star Isabelle Ciaravola, whom he had made work on since 1985:
"I only understood the meaning of some of your words much later, the meaning that every dancer must give to his dance.
This Artistic and Bodily Expression
that you kept talking about, this fluidity of movement, lightness of arms that had to live and make more vaporous and feminine a dance that had to be more than a step execution.
You once called me a Poem, you wrote it because you made me DARE.
»