Etoiles nominated by Rudolf Nureyev

Manuel Legris Rudolf Noureev
Manuel Legris nominated by Rudolf Nureyev on the stage of theMetropolitan Opera de New-York

Sylvie GUILLEM
December 24, 1984

After having been promoted to “première danseuse” on 29 December 1984 at the Ballet Competition, five days later, at the end of her first Swan Lake Nureyev’s version), she was nominated “Etoile” on stage by Rudolf Nureyev. She was only nineteen years old at the time. She left the Opéra de Paris in 1988 to pursue an international career.

Isabelle GUERIN
November 2, 1985

Isabelle Guérin

She was nominated “Etoile” on stage by Rudolf Nureyev at the same time as Laurent Hilaire, at the end of a performance of Swan Lake (the Bourmeister version). She retired from the Opéra in May 2001. She was also responsible for rehearsals for the revival of La Bayadère (November-December 2001) at the Bastille, and she re-staged the Don Quixote of Nureyev at the Scala of Milan (November 2003).


Elisabeth MAURIN

December 23, 1988

Elisabeth Maurin

Rudolf Nureyev nominated her “Etoile” on the set of The Nutcracker Suite, a film produced by Nureyev and Colin Nears for French Television, in the studios at Bry-sur-Marne.


Manuel LEGRIS

July 11, 1986 *

Manuel Legris

He was nominated “Etoile” by Rudolf Nureyev on stage at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, at the end of the performance of Raymonda, in which he danced the role of Jean de Brienne, during the official tour of the Opéra de Paris in the United States, which the Company had not visited since 1948.

Since September 1, 2010, he has directed the Vienna State Ballet.


Laurent HILAIRE

November 2, 1985 *

Laurent Hilaire

Nommé “Etoile” sur scène par Rudolf Noureev à l’issus de la représentation du Lac des cygnes (version Bourmeister) .

* These are unique occurrences in the history of the Opéra de Paris, since Laurent Hilaire and Manuel Legris were still only “soloists” when they were nominated “Etoiles”. They had not yet graduated to the category of “premiers danseurs”, which had no vacancies for three seasons (from 1983 to 1986).