{"id":302867,"date":"2026-07-22T14:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/302867\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T14:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T14:39:08","slug":"paris-opera-ballet-etoile-hugo-marchand-curates-an-evening-at-new-york-city-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/302867\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris Op\u00e9ra Ballet \u00c9toile Hugo Marchand Curates an Evening at New York City Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Paris Op\u00e9ra Ballet, Hugo Marchand cuts an unmistakable silhouette: tall, dramatic, and driven by a seriousness that has defined his career since he became an \u00e9toile in 2017. Drawn to darker characters, the 32-year-old has made a specialty of complex roles like Mayerling\u2019s Prince Rudolf and Maurice B\u00e9jart\u2019s exposed Bol\u00e9ro. Now, American audiences will have a chance to witness his brooding intensity this summer: Bol\u00e9ro is part of a special mixed bill<\/a> he has curated for New York City Center, opening on July 23.<\/p>\n

The Switzerland-based B\u00e9jart Ballet Lausanne will join him onstage for the occasion, along with fellow POB principals in pas de deux by Balanchine, Angelin Preljocaj, and Carolyn Carlson. A Superstars of Paris<\/a> gala program follows at Los Angeles\u2019 Music Center from July 31, starring a select group of Marchand\u2019s closest colleagues\u2014including Doroth\u00e9e Gilbert and Germain Louvet, who will also perform at NYCC, and Hannah O\u2019Neill.<\/p>\n

Pointe spoke with Marchand to learn more.<\/p>\n

How did this U.S. tour come about?<\/p>\n

It all happened thanks to City Center. I met Stanford Makishi, the artistic director for dance, a few years ago when I performed at Fall for Dance. He is very sincere, generous, and open-minded, and we immediately clicked. This season, he asked me to come three times as part of the Artists at the Center program: for Fall for Dance again; for a Studio 5 rehearsal session of Manon, coached by Alessandra Ferri; and for this special evening.<\/p>\n

\"OnstageMarchand in Maurice B\u00e9jart\u2019s Bol\u00e9ro. Photo by Maria Helena Buckley, courtesy New York City Center.<\/p>\n

How did you build the City Center program?<\/p>\n

I wanted to celebrate love. It may sound a bit corny, but in a world that is becoming increasingly divided, this program is entirely about reconciliation. We\u2019ll open with Sonatine, a tribute to the ties Balanchine built between France and the U.S. I\u2019m also bringing a piece by Carolyn Carlson, an American choreographer who spent her entire career in France. I also wanted to pay homage to Maurice B\u00e9jart, who was fascinated by other cultures and saw dance as a universal language.<\/p>\n

The company he founded, B\u00e9jart Ballet Lausanne, will join you at City Center for Bol\u00e9ro, and will also perform The Firebird. Was it your idea?<\/p>\n

Yes. I thought it would be incredible to bring Bol\u00e9ro back to New York, because it hasn\u2019t been seen there in some time and it\u2019s such an emblematic French work. It\u2019s costly to bring 20 or so B\u00e9jart dancers over to do it, but Stanford made it happen. Then we added The Firebird. B\u00e9jart\u2019s version has always moved me, and it has a lot of political resonance.<\/p>\n

\"ABe\u0301jart Ballet Lausanne in Maurice B\u00e9jart\u2019s The Firebird. Photo by Admill Kuyler, courtesy NYCC.<\/p>\n

How has your interpretation of Bol\u00e9ro evolved since your debut, in 2023?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a more complex work than it looks. The choreography is at once simple and very precise, and there have been so many interpretations of it. I try to both respect the steps and allow space for my own instincts. To me, Bol\u00e9ro is a ritual, a space where you go into a trance and connect with the dancers around the table. It\u2019s less about competition than about moving toward a kind of sacrifice, as in Rite of Spring.<\/p>\n

You will also perform the final pas de deux from Angelin Preljocaj\u2019s Le Parc with Doroth\u00e9e Gilbert, one of your long-time stage partners, who is set to retire in October. What is it like to dance with her in the lead-up?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already started to grieve her departure. We\u2019re like an old couple: We know what the other likes and doesn\u2019t like, and we completely trust each other. Dancing Le Parc together on this tour is a gift we\u2019re giving to ourselves\u2014it is the ultimate kiss, the climax.<\/p>\n

You recently had to cancel a performance of La Bayad\u00e8re due to injury. How are you feeling physically?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m managing my body, like every dancer past the age of 25. I\u2019ve had a lot of work recently in Paris, with big productions that are hard on the principals, like La Bayad\u00e8re and Lady of the Camellias. I had to dig deep, and I hope I will make it through everything this summer without hurting myself more.<\/p>\n

\"HugoMarchand in B\u00e9jart\u2019s Bol\u00e9ro. Photo by Maria Helena Buckley, courtesy NYCC.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll celebrate 10 years as an \u00e9toile in 2027. How do you look back on this decade?<\/p>\n

My takeaway is that the Op\u00e9ra is an incredibly powerful institution that keeps going because people join and people leave. We are only passing through, and we will be forgotten as quickly as we arrived. So I\u2019m working now on developing personal projects on the outside. I love the Op\u00e9ra and I serve it as best I can. But I think that if that\u2019s all you do, when it\u2019s time to go, you are left with nothing.<\/p>\n

In 2022, you launched an association, Hugo Marchand Pour La Danse, that offers gala performances at heritage venues around France for the price of \u20ac13 (around $15). What was your motivation?<\/p>\n

I had a strong desire to give back to French audiences, who support the Op\u00e9ra through the taxes they pay. I am a child of the French Republic: I learned to dance for free at a conservatory in Nantes, then at the Paris Op\u00e9ra Ballet School. My parents only paid for boarding, train tickets, and meals. When we started these performances, \u20ac13 was the price of a movie ticket. I want to keep making dance accessible\u2014to use it as a way to bring people together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the Paris Op\u00e9ra Ballet, Hugo Marchand cuts an unmistakable silhouette: tall, dramatic, and driven by a seriousness…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[114793,114794,114795,114796,114797,114798,114799,114800,114801,9,24,3901,55,54,56,114802],"class_list":["post-302867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-angelin-preljocaj","tag-bejart-ballet-lausanne","tag-dorothee-gilbert","tag-germain-louvet","tag-hanna-oneill","tag-hugo-marchand","tag-hugo-marchand-pour-la-danse","tag-los-angeles-musuic-center","tag-maurice-bejart","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-center","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-paris-opera-ballet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}