Paris Opera Junior Ballet

Linbury Theatre, Royal Ballet & Opera, London
June 19, 2025

A welcome inclusion in the Next Generation Festival at The Royal Ballet & Opera was the newest group, Paris Opera Junior Ballet formed in 2024. With eighteen members, split equally male and female, aged 18 to 23, they work alongside and learn the Paris Opera Ballet’s classical and contemporary repertoire. The programme of four well-chosen works by director, José Martinez, showed a company of versatile young professionals.

Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante opened and set the pace. A very demanding work especially in the intimate Linbury Theatre where technical ability is put under the microscope but the dancers rose to the challenge. It was good to see clean lines, precision footwork and a keen interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s dazzling score.

Violette Verdy, one of the many famous interpreters of the lead role, noted that it should be danced with happiness and Natalie Vikner seems to have followed her advice. Tall and long limbed, she nevertheless had the required speed in her feet and the essential flow to her arms that found the right position on the right note without looking rushed. Her partner, Davide Alphandery, remarkably cool and confident proved a strong partner and delivered batterie of crystal clarity.

The most interesting work was Maurice Béjart’s Cantata 51. We see far too little of his choreography, so fiercely modern in its angular shapes, no-fuss clarity and strong male roles. Bach’s celebratory cantata for soprano and virtuoso trumpet is an unusual score for dance and to this he adds the story of the Annunciation to fashion this extraordinary work.

Angélique Brosse as Mary gave a performance of quiet depth, holding the stage both in stillness and movement. Jaime Almaraz Baizan, an exuberant Angel, successfully tackled some decidedly tricky choreography and together they excelled in the eloquent central duet. Grace Boyd and Shani Obadia made joyful accompanying angels as did the four men who make a brief late entry.

Annabelle López Ochoa’s Requiem for a Rose proves that Romantic ballet can also exist in the twenty-first century. Set to Schubert’s Quintet in C, it is filled with fluid, emotional double work as the dancers’ layered red skirts swirl to create an illusion of petals. The raw, angular figure of Obadia dressed in flesh coloured leotard with loose flailing hair bookends the ballet. She clenches a single red rose in her teeth, representing in Ochoa’s words, “The purity of what love is.” It was a beautiful addition to the programme and also an excellent choice of modern ballet to challenge the young dancers.

The finale was suitably light-hearted with José Martinez’ Mi Favourita to music by Donizetti paying homage to a litany of choreographers including Le Roi Soleil, Fred Astaire, Marius Petipa and William Forsythe. In addition, there were plenty of ballet jokes involving costume, partnering and generally showing off. The virtuosity was eye-watering and if the jokes maybe went on a little too long the enthusiasm of the dancers was on hand to rescue the work.

It was interesting to note that only five of the dancers graduated from the Paris Opera School. Three, including French-Swedish, Natalie Vikner came from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. Spanish dancer, Jaime Almaraz had previously been with the Finnish National Ballet Youth Company, the two Italian dancers, Davide Alphandery and Sergio Napodano trained at La Scala and the Australian School. Jackson Smith-Leishman, trained at the Royal Ballet School. With the diversity of the dancers in training and nationality the uniformity of style was particularly impressive. I hope we see more of them.