The Ballet National de Marseille is a dance company based in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, France. The company combines

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th ...

and

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions), it ...

Overview

The Ballet National de Marseille was founded by the dancer and choreographer

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 ...

in 1972. The company's first production was the ''Pink Floyd Ballet''. Roland Petit's young daughter had given him a

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

album and told him he should make a ballet from it. The idea matured, and the ballet eventually debuted in Marseille at the Palais des Sports. The band itself performed at the first show. Since then the ''Pink Floyd Ballet'' has been staged several times in cities around the world. Under Roland Petit the company's program included modern dance featuring Petit's wife

Zizi Jeanmaire Renée Marcelle "Zizi" Jeanmaire (29 April 192417 July 2020) was a French ballet dancer, actress and singer. She became famous in the 1950s after playing the title role in the ballet ''Carmen'', produced in London in 1949, and went on to appear ...

. In 1992 the École Nationale Supérieure de Danse de Marseille (Marseille National Higher School of Dance) was established. The company and the school were housed in a new building with a 300-seat theater and nine rehearsal studios, two of which are reserved for the company. The company has a staff of 70, of whom half are dancers. The school has an intake of about 120 students each year, providing nine years of training in dance.

Marie-Claude Pietragalla Marie-Claude Georgette Yvonne Pietragalla (born 2 February 1963 in Paris) is a French dancer and choreographer. Biography Pietragalla was born in Paris to a Coriscan father and mother from Bordeaux. At 16, she joined the Ballet de l'Opera Natio ...

was appointed Director General of the company and of the school in March 1998, holding this position until 2004. Frédéric Flamand was appointed artistic director in September 2004. Before this he had directed Charleroi Danses in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

from 1991 to 2004 and made that institution well known not only in Belgium but also internationally.

References

External links

* {{authority control Ballet companies in France Companies based in Marseille Culture of Marseille