Editing Paris Opera Ballet (section)

{{Short description|French ballet company}}
{{Infobox ballet company
| name                    = Paris Opera Ballet
| logo                    = Paris_Opera_Ballet_(Transparent)_Logo.png
| caption                 = Logo of the [[Paris Opera]]
| local_name              = {{nowrap|Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris}}
| previous_names          = {{unbulleted list
  | Académie Royale de Musique
  | Académie Impériale de Musique
  | Théâtre National de l'Opéra
  }}
| founded                 = {{start date and age|1661}}
| founders                = 
| venue                   = [[Palais Garnier]], [[Place de l'Opéra]], [[9th arrondissement of Paris|Paris, 9th arrondissement]], France
| website                 = [https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/artists/ballet www.operadeparis.fr]
| chief_executive         = 
| director                = [[José Carlos Martínez (dancer)|José Martínez]]
| administrator           = Flavien Moglia
| ballet_master_in_chief  = 
| associated_schools      = [[#Paris Opera Ballet School|Paris Opera Ballet School]]<ref name=Crane>"Paris Opera Ballet" in Crane and Mackrell 2000, pp. 360–361.</ref>
| formation               = Étoile<br />Premier Danseur<br />Sujet<br />Coryphée<br />Quadrille
}}

The '''Paris Opera Ballet''' ({{Langx|fr|Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris|italic=no}}) 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 as one of the five most prominent ballet companies in the world, together with the [[Bolshoi Ballet]] in [[Moscow]], the [[Mariinsky Ballet]] in Saint Petersburg, the [[Royal Ballet]] in [[London]], and the [[New York City Ballet]].<ref>"There are three world-best ballet companies, unquestionably the Royal Ballet, unquestionably the Bolchoi Ballet, and unquestionably the Paris Opera Ballet" - « Il y en a trois meilleures compagnies du monde, sans doute Le Royal Ballet, sans doute Le Bolchoï et sans doute Le Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris.», Philippe Noisette, journaliste, dans [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xwb6wm_danse-a-tout-prix-1ere-partie_sport La Danse à tout prix], television documentary by Carlos Simoes, 2012, 129 min, broadcast on 26 December 2012 on France 2.</ref><ref>[http://www.operadeparis.fr/videopera/haut-vol Haut vol] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328211844/http://www.operadeparis.fr/videopera/haut-vol |date=2015-03-28 }} interpreted by Éleonore Baulac and Allister Madin, choreography by Benjamin Millepied, film by Louis de Caunes.</ref><ref name=articlemartinerobert>[http://www.lesechos.fr/27/12/2013/LesEchos/21593-071-ECH_pourquoi-les-ballets-de-l-opera-de-paris-font-partie-des-spectacles-favoris-des-fetes.htm Pourquoi les ballets de l'Opéra de Paris font partie des spectacles favoris des fêtes], article by Martine Robert, 27 December 2013, Les Echos.</ref><ref>If you add the [[Mariinsky Ballet|St Petersburg Mariinsky Ballet]] and the [[New York City Ballet]] to the list, you get the top five ballet companies in the world. <!-- For general reference you may cite Philippe Noisette (Le Figaro, Les Echos, France Culture), Ariane Bavelier (Le Figaro), Alastair Macauley (The New York Times, formerly The Financial Times), Laura Capelle (Pointe magazine). --></ref>

Since December 2022, the company has been under the direction of [[José Carlos Martínez (dancer)|José Martínez]], the director of dance. The ballet company consists of 154 dancers, among them 17 ''[[Danseur Étoile|Danseurs Étoiles]]''. The [[principal dancer]]s give 180 dance performances each year, primarily at the [[Palais Garnier]].<ref>[https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/artists/ballet/ballet-company Paris Opera Ballet], site of the Paris Opera.</ref>

Just as prestigious as the Paris Opera Ballet is its dance school, the Paris Opera Ballet School (French: École de danse de l'Opéra national de Paris), considered to be one of the world's best dance schools.<ref name=filmgrainesetoiles>[http://www.schuchprod.com/wp-content/files_mf/revuedepressegraines.pdf Paris Opera Ballet School - a World of its Own] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170402/http://www.schuchprod.com/wp-content/files_mf/revuedepressegraines.pdf |date=2016-03-03 }}, L'école de danse, un monde à part, review of the press of April 2013.</ref> Its former pupils have won a record of 20 [[Prix Benois de la Danse|Benois de la Danse]] awards. The school celebrated its [[Anniversary|tercentennial]] in 2013.

The competition for admission to both institutions is extremely fierce.<ref>See below (paragraph hierarchy).</ref> For a dancer to enter the Paris Opera Ballet, it is almost compulsory to be admitted to the Paris Opera Ballet School, to pass the annual competitive examinations in May, and to attend at least the final two classes.<ref name=interviewmathildefrousteyjan2014/> 95 percent of the admitted dancers in the Paris Opera Ballet are French.<ref name=interviewmathildefrousteyjan2014>[http://archives.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2014/01/23/interview-with-new-san-francisco-ballet-principal-mathilde-froustey Interview with New San Francisco Ballet Principal, Mathilde Froustey], by Laura Jaye Cramer, 23 January 2014, SF Weekly, extract: "You cannot get into the company if you have not done the school" (Mathilde Froustey).</ref>