A movie buff, she loves watching trailers and historical moments on television. The next James Bond or Barack Obama’s inauguration speech gives him the same chills.
The dance world is in mourning. A few days apart, he lost two figures: first Hugues Gall on May 25 and now Eric Vu-An on June 8. Married, they both worked to promote dance.
Ten days after her illustrious husband, Eric Vu-An, “exceptional artist”, took his last breath at age 60
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The French dancer and choreographer Eric Vu-An died on Saturday June 8, 2024 at the age of 60, just 10 days after the death of his husband, Hugues Gall, former director of the Paris Opera, announced his entourage to the AFP.
Eric Vu-An, who was artistic director of the Nice-Mediterranean ballet (Opéra de Nice) since 2009, succumbed to an illness “against which he had been fighting for two and a half years“, a member of his entourage told AFP.
The Minister of Culture Rachida Dati expressed her emotion on X (formerly Twitter), with a majestic photo to support: “With the death of Éric Vu-An, dance loses an exceptional artist, an international star from the Paris Opera dance school, and the Nice Méditerranée ballet a talented director.“
“His talent, passion and dedication have marked the culture of our city“, reacted on Instagram the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, expressing his “deep sadness“faced with this death.”My thoughts are with his loved ones and the members of our opera“, he added. Former Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot welcomed “a magnificent dancer” and one “inspired choreographer“.
Born in 1964, Eric Vu-An joined the Paris Opera ballet dance school in 1974 and became a professional dancer five years later.
Initially a “subject”, he found himself unwillingly at the heart of a conflict between Rudolf Nureyev and Maurice Béjart in 1986, the latter announcing the appointment of Eric Vu-An as star dancer without having the right to do so: the dance director of the Paris Opera ballet Rudolf Nureyev will ultimately force Maurice Béjart to reverse course. Eric Vu-An then became an independent artist, then returned to the Paris ballet as a guest soloist, and started as a choreographer from 1989.
Eric Vu-An was appointed director of the ballet at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in 1995. He then became head of the ballet at the Opéra Théâtre d’Avignon in 1997. He was appointed ballet master at the Marseille national ballet in 2005, before taking charge of the Ballet Nice Méditerranée in 2009, a position he held until his death.
Who was Hugues Gall, her husband who died a few days before his death?
Hugues Gall, former director of the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Paris Opera, was a member of the Academy of Fine Arts. He died on May 25 at the age of 84.a man who devoted his life to the influence of opera and ballet” according to the Paris Opera.
First assistant to the institution’s director Rolf Liebermann between 1973 and 1980, he became director of the Grand Théâtre de Genève from 1980 to 1995. He subsequently became “Honorary Bourgeois of the city of Geneva“.
In 1995, Hugues Gall took over as head of the Paris Opera, until July 2004.These nine years will have seen the finally established success of the Opéra Bastille project, associated with the Palais Garnier in a solidly unified relationship: 360 performances per year on the two stages, in front of nearly 900,000 spectators; 80 lyrical productions and a commissioning policy which has made it possible to bring creation to the Opéra Bastille”recalls the Academy.
In 2008, Hugues Gall took over the management of the House and Gardens of Claude Monet – Giverny for a first five-year term, renewed until his death.