During my vacation in Paris, I had the chance to check out a bunch of different dance related experiences that were absolutely amazing! So, I thought I'd share some of my adventures with Dance News BC! Some of these experiences range from taking a drop in dance class, watching the New York City Ballet, and buying a pair of pointe shoes at Repetto! Check out some of my adventures down below and enjoy!
Below, are some photos from my time at the Palais Garner (Paris Opera House). This was one of my favourite places in Paris, and I even bought two DVDs from the gift shop, with one of them being a ballet (Don Quixote), and the other being a documentary of students at the Paris Opera Ballet School. Both were fabulous, and the detail work of the Paris Opera House was breathtaking! I liked it even better than Versailles :) I especially loved all of the costumes that they had in the showcases on the different floors. Check out my experiences down below!
Here are some photos from my visit at Repetto, where I bought a pair of pointe shoes, and met Ode, who used to be a professional ballet dancer! She was very helpful and kind, and during my visit I was able to check out the second level where they had all of the ballet supplies :)
Here is the link to the Repetto website: repetto.com
Here I am watching the New York City Ballet perform, "Les Etes de la Danse" at the Chatelet. The Chatelet had a beautiful interior, and I absolutely loved the ballet. This was my second time watching the New York City Ballet, and I loved every minute of it! Unfortunately, afterwards I found out that there was New York City Ballet Master Class that I missed that was earlier on in the week, where I could've danced with some of the dancers, and taught by some of them! Sigh, maybe next time! But I'm still very happy that I got the chance to watch the New York City Ballet :) P.S. I took the photo outside a day before the show when I bought the tickets, which is why there's no one else around in the background. On the day of it was packed!
Here I am visiting the Centre de Danse du Marais, where I took two ballet (or dance classique, as they call it in Paris, as ballet is the art form) classes taught by Madame Christine Duveau! I absolutely loved the class and would highly recommend any dancers to check out one of their classes, as they teach all types of dance styles from Jazz to African to Flamenco. Madame Duveau was a great instructor and I took a class on Saturday (Saoedi) and Monday (Lundi). I wish I would have taken the class earlier, but I was sick during the earlier part of my trip, and didn't want to get anyone else sick either. These are all drop in classes, and they are all different levels. I wasn't sure what level I would be at so I played it safe, and went for a intermediate/beginner (debutant/moyen) pointe class. Although, I think I could've probably done an intermediate class, but I ran out of time. As a side note, some of the teachers speak a varied level of English, so make sure to check out which ones do beforehand. Madame Duveau spoke a little bit of English, but lucky for me a lot of ballet is taught in French, so it all went pretty well. I was able to learn some new tricks and technique tips, and this was by far my favourite part of my trip. Make sure to check out the reviews online and I'll add the links to some of my favourite reviews that helped me make my decision to take a class there.
Here is the link to the Centre de Danse du Marais website: https://www.centrededansedumarais.fr/en/
Here is the link to Trip Advisor's reviews: tripadvisor.ca
Here is the link to Yelp reviews: yelp.ca
Here is the link to a review: theclassicalgirl.com
Here is the link to one of the reviews: danceadvantage.net
And to finish it all off, I was able to see the iconic "Little Dancer of Fourteen Years" Statue by Edgar Degas at the Musee d'Orsay.
I hope that you enjoyed my article and decide to check out some of these must-do's for dancers in Paris! Enjoy!
All photos are taken for (c) Dance News BC 2016