With 154 dancers they perform over 180 performances per season.

Today it is part of the Opéra national de Paris. Originally, in 1669, the corps de ballet was integrated into the Royal Academy of Music. Its roots go back to the dances and practices of court life of Louis XIV. The Paris Opera Ballet is one of the most prestigious and oldest classical dance companies in the world. This Digidance livestream is an initiative of DanceHouse (Vancouver), Danse Danse (Montreal), Harbourfront Centre (Toronto), and the National Arts Centre (Ottawa). What happens to our games when we grow up? How do we rediscover that desire to play?

Festive and mischievous, the work draws viewers into a whirlwind of invention while asking profound questions about the world. The dancers dive into the pit, transform into forest creatures, and frolic with balls, ropes and large white boxes. Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman is known for creating spectacular visual compositions, such as the 40,000 plastic balls filling the orchestra pit in Play. The work was created for the Paris Opera Ballet, one of the oldest and most prestigious ballet companies in the world.

The 36 dancers are encouraged to improvise, to really play with the sets and objects onstage. Play combines dance, theatre, music and song into a high-energy spectacle that explores play through the various stages of life. Playing makes us happy, and Ekman believes we should always keep that childlike urge to jump into action, and let our imaginations run free. Alexander Ekman turns the historic Palais Garnier into a vast playground where every object is a plaything.

Danse opera garnier