Nicolas Le Riche

Young and extremely talented dancer Yulya Olshanskaya from a small mining town draws a “happy ticket”: she is noticed by a former ballet dancer Pototsky and he promises her a future of great ballerina, worthy of the main stage of the country. However, in order to become a diamond, anyone, even the most outstanding brilliant, needs to be cut, and the way to the legendary stage of The Bolshoi Theatre for Yulya lies through the walls of the ballet school, where the more capricious teacher Galina Mikhailovna Beletskaya takes custody of the rebellious provincial. Turning into a prima will require incredible self-denial, and Yulya herself will have to make sure that the big ballet is not only the whiteness of the packs, the gold of the boxes and the slip of silk ribbons. But no obstacles will stop the one who has the big dream.

Billie and Louis have the good fortune of loving each other passionately and of having a family. But then one day terrible news turns their existence and that of their friends' upside down. Marie, a famous actress who is Billie's friend and confidant, redoubles her determination to give life, while Alice, her nurse, fighting for freedom, maintains that life 'is here and now and in the moment.' A film about love, hope, and the conviction that the force of life, despite the toughest tests, will always gain the upper hand.

In 2008, the Opéra national de Paris honored the legendary Jerome Robbins. Though the general public may remember him primarily for his staging and choreography of Bernstein’s West Side Story, Robbins was also a brilliant ballet choreographer. In this production, we discover three of his works of classical ballet—En sol, In the Night, and The Concert—paired with Benjamin Millepied’s Triade.

A film by Frederick Wiseman following the ins and outs of 7 ballets by the Paris Opera Ballet.

Raymonda is an emotional three-act ballet with music by Alexandre Glazunov. Premiered at the Mariinsky Theater in 1898 featuring choreography by Marius Petipa, the ballet is performed here with Rudolf Nureyev's adapted choreography for his 2008 production at the Opéra de Paris, starring the great Marie-Agnès Gillot, José Martinez, and Nicolas Le Riche.

Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor-in-chief of French fashion bible Elle magazine, has a devastating stroke at age 43. The damage to his brain stem results in locked-in syndrome, with which he is almost completely paralyzed and only able to communicate by blinking an eye. Bauby painstakingly dictates his memoir via the only means of expression left to him.

Giselle, the Romantic ballet par excellence! Relive the story of a young country girl's innocent love for the Duke Albrecht. When she learns that he is already engaged to marry a princess, Giselle suffers violent hallucinations and then dies. In vengeance, the Queen of the Wilis—the ghosts of young girls who die before their time—condemns Albrecht to dance until he dies of exhaustion...

Once upon a time there was a kingdom where dancing was forbidden by a tyrant king. Defying the edict of her father, the Princess Aurore continues to dance, for the amusement of herself and brother, Solal. With the kingdom virtually bankrupt, the King has no choice but to marry his daughter to a wealthy prince. As preparations are made for a ball that will set the seal on the marriage, the princess discovers that she is in love.

Nicolas Le Riche and Marie-Agnès Gillot star in the legendary Roland Petit and Jean Cocteau's pioneering one-act ballet Le Jeune homme et la Mort. This 2005 production at the Opéra de Paris stays true to Petit’s original scenic and choreographic conception, from the dark, dingy apartment of the Young Man to the disturbing yellow dress and jet-black coiffe of the villainess. A mesmerizing drama in dance as virtuosic as it is unsettling!

Roland Petit’s ballet Carmen was a smash hit at its premiere at London’s Prince’s Theatre in 1949. Structured in five scenes, the work reimagines the classic opera, using an innovative mixture of modern and classical ballet, mime, and Spanish-style movement to create a contemporary interpretation of Bizet’s Romantic masterpiece. In this 2005 production at the Palais Garnier, Clairemaire Osta (Carmen), Nicolas Le Riche (Don José), and Guillaume Charlot (Escamillo) star, framed by Antoni Clavé’s vibrant decor and costumes. Experience this landmark ballet in a striking 21st-century revival!