Claire Motte (1937–1986) was a French

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

and dance teacher. After studying under

Carlotta Zambelli Carlotta Zambelli (4 November 1875 – 28 January 1968) was an Italian prima ballerina and ballet teacher. Apart from a year in St. Petersburg, she spent her entire career in Paris. Early life Zambelli was born in Milan. When she was seven, Zam ...

at the company's school, she entered the

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded ...

when she was 14. Rising quickly through the ranks, she was named a danseuse étoile in December 1960. As a result of her outstanding technique, leading choreographers including

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

and

Serge Lifar Serge Lifar ( ua, Сергій Михайлович Лифар, ''Serhіy Mуkhailovуch Lуfar'') ( 15 December 1986) was a Ukrainian ballet dancer and choreographer, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century. No ...

sought to include her in their ballets. She was frequently a partner of

Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux (born 9 April 1943, in Bourg en Bresse, France) is a French ballet dancer and instructor. He is the former artistic director of the Charlotte Ballet and the Chautauqua Institution. At 14, Bonnefoux joined the Paris Opera Ba ...

. In parallel, Motte taught dance and in 1977 was appointed professor at the Paris Opera and at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

. Four years after she had left the stage, in 1983

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...

appointed her ballet master for ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

''.

Early life and education

Claire Motte was born in

Belfort Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Territo ...

in eastern France on 21 December 1937. Her father was a colonel in the Paris fire department and her mother was a pianist. When she was ten, she was admitted to the Paris Opera Ballet School where she was a student of Carlotta Zamelli.

Career

Motte enjoyed particularly rapid promotions at the Paris Opera Ballet after joining the company at age 14. When she was 23, she received the top grade of étoile. In 1957, she danced leading roles in the opera-ballet ''

Les Indes galantes (French: "The Amorous Indies") is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Louis Fuzelier. It takes the form of an ''opéra-ballet'' with a prologue and (in its final form) four ''entrées'' (acts). Following an allegorical prologue, th ...

'', in Lifar's ''Chemin de lumière'' and in ''La Symphonie fantastique'' and went on to excel in ''La Dame à la licorne'' and ''

''. In 1967, she created the role of Esmeralda in the premiere of

Roland Petit Roland Petit (13 January 192410 July 2011) was a French ballet company director, choreographer and dancer. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets. Life and work The son of shoe designer Ros ...

's ''

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

''. Her technique was so outstanding that the top choreographers of the period all sought to have her perform in their works. In addition to Lifar and Petit, these included George Balanchine, Michel Descombes and

Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French-born dancer, choreographer and opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, talking vast th ...

. Other notable performances included ''On ne badine pas avec l'amour'' (Lifar, 1962), '' La Péri'' (

George Skibine George Boris SkibineGeorge Boris Skibine in ''South Carolina, Naturalization Records, 1868-1991'' (russian: Юрий Борисович Скибин; Yuri Borisovich Skibin; January 30, 1920 – January 14, 1981), also known as Youra Skibine, was ...

, 1966), ''

Bacchus and Ariadne ''Bacchus and Ariadne'' (1522–1523) is an oil painting by Titian. It is one of a cycle of paintings on mythological subjects produced for Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, for the Camerino d'Alabastro – a private room in his palazzo in ...

'' (

Michel Descombey Michel Descombey (28 October 1930 – 5 December 2011) was a French ballet dancer, choreographer and director. Descombay studied dancing in Paris, and debuted as a professional dancer of the Ballet de l'Opéra National in 1947. In 1959 he be ...

, 1967) and a new version of ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's ...

'' (Béjart, 1975). In parallel with her appearances, Motte taught dance at the Conservatoire de Bobigny (1969–79) and was head of dance at the

Schola Cantorum de Paris The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History La Schola was founded i ...

(1969–75). From 1977, she taught at the Paris Opera Ballet School and at the Conservatoire de Paris. Claire Motte died in Paris on 16 July 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz, Solange 1937 births 1986 deaths French ballerinas French choreographers Ballet teachers Paris Opera Ballet étoiles