The former Spanish prima ballerina was named on Friday. He succeeds Aurélie Dupont, who resigned to everyone’s surprise last June.
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L’ex-star dancer José Martinez was appointed new director of dance at the Paris Opera on Friday, four months after the surprise resignation of Aurélie Dupont, the institution announced. The 53-year-old Spaniard, also a former member of the National Dance Company of Spain, will be able to “ensure the stability, influence and excellence of the ballet of the Opéra national de Paris”, indicated in a press release the director of institution, Alexander Neef.
After Aurélie Dupont, it is once again a pure product of the house who is appointed head of the company of 154 dancers. But unlike the former star dancer who had no experience in management when she was appointed, the 53-year-old Spaniard was director of the National Dance Company of Spain for eight years.
The choice of the word “stability” does not seem trivial, after the turbulence experienced by the Opera Ballet over the past eight years since the departure of Brigitte Lefèvre (1995-2014). His successor, choreographer Benjamin Millepied, left just a year later to devote himself fully to his artistic career. He was succeeded by Aurélie Dupont, the most famous star of her generation. But this ballet star will face an explosive internal poll of dancers at the start of his term, questioning his lack of dialogue.
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One of the Opera’s most awarded dancers
José Martinez said in the press release on Friday that he wanted to defend “a project that will keep the company at the top of its game and make it an exemplary ballet in its artistic, human and societal commitments”. “I will work on it by seeking the best cohesion between all the living forces of the house and by obtaining the support of the dancers and the teams of the Paris Opera”, he added.
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If, in Spain, the company has around fifty dancers, he will have to manage 154 dancers at the Opera. A house that he knows very well, but with a generation quite different from his own: very present on social networks and above all, for some of them, with a more marked desire for the contemporary, even the modern, than for academic dance. This was reflected in Aurélie Dupont’s programming, which called on choreographers, some unknown, for very contemporary works.
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A noble dancer par excellence, slender, with a refined technique and an elegant incarnation of the roles of prince, José Martinez was one of the Opera’s most awarded dancers. Born in Cartagena in Spain in 1969, he was initially trained in his country before joining the dance school of the Paris Opera in 1987. A year later, he joined the Ballet de l’Opéra at the age of 19. and rose in rank until obtaining the supreme title of star on May 31, 1997.
José Martinez winner of a large panel of candidates
Traditionally, the director of the Opera chooses the director of dance himself, but Alexander Neef preferred this time to rely on a selection committee, chaired by Bernard Stirn, honorary chairman of the board of directors of the Opera and composed of choreographers Carolyn Carlson, Angelin Preljocaj and former Opera dancer Charles Jude.
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Rumors had been swirling for several weeks about possible successors, with “shortlists” including the names of many former stars but also “outsiders”.
“A total of 23 applications were collected, including 9 women and 14 men. Of all the candidates, 11 were of French nationality and 12 of foreign nationality, ”said the press release from the Opera. “The selection committee auditioned 8 candidates and made its recommendations to the director general of the Paris Opera, who decided to audition 4 (2 women and 2 men)”, specified the institution, without revealing their identify.