Principal dancerA principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be of any gender and is usually the star of the ballet. The term is used mostly in ballet but can be used in other forms as well, such as modern dance. The term senior principal dancer is sometimes used as well.José Carlos Martínez (dancer)José Carlos Martínez (born 29 April 1969 in Cartagena) is a Spanish dancer and choreographer. He was a danseur étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet and artistic director of the Spanish National Dance Company. He became the director of dance at Paris Opera Ballet in December 2022.
Paris OperaThe Paris Opera (French: Opéra de Paris) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra, and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the Académie Royale de Musique, but continued to be known more simply as the Opéra.
Ballet companyDance troupe A ballet company is a type of dance troupe that performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-round basis, except in the United States, where contracts for part of the year (typically thirty or forty weeks) are normally offered.
Prix Benois de la DanseThe Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and it consists of only top ballet personages. Statuettes are given to the winners in the categories of lifelong achievement, ballerina, danseur, choreographer, composer and designer.
The Royal BalletThe Royal Ballet is a British classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois. It became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946, and has purpose-built facilities within these premises. It was granted a royal charter in 1956, becoming recognised as Britain's flagship ballet company.
French languageFrench (français or langue française) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, French and its closest relatives—the langues d'oïl, historically spoken in northern France and southern Belgium—descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. It was influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul and by the GermanicFrankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders.Bolshoi BalletThe Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it came to international prominence as Moscow became the capital of Soviet Russia. The Bolshoi has been recognised as one of the foremost ballet companies in the world. It has a branch at the Bolshoi Ballet Theater School in Joinville, Brazil.Danseur étoileDanseur étoile (for men) or danseuse étoile (for women), literally "star dancer", is the highest rank a dancer can reach at the Paris Opera Ballet. It is equivalent to the title "principal dancer" used in English or to the title "primo ballerino" or "prima ballerina" in Italian.
Palais GarnierThe Palais Garnier (French: [palɛ ɡaʁnje] , "Garnier Palace"), also known as Opéra Garnier (French: [ɔpeʁa ɡaʁnje] , "Garnier Opera"), is a historic 1,979-seat opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from 1861 to 1875 at the behest of Emperor Napoleon III.
MoscowCapital and most populous city of RussiaCapital city and federal cityMoscow is the capital and largest city of Russia, situated on the Moskva River in Central Russia. The city has a population estimated at more than 13 million residents within city limits, more than 19.1 million residents in the urban area, and more than 21.5 million residents in the metropolitan area.
LondonLondon is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of 9.14 million people in 2025. Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 15.4 million. London stands on the River Thames in southeast England, at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) tidal estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for nearly 2,000 years.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.