Paris Opera in turmoil as dancers strike

Christmas celebrations at the Opéra National de Paris promised to be flamboyant. Paquitaa hectic classical ballet, revived in 2001 by Pierre Lacotte, was set to rock the Opéra Bastille, from December 5 to January 4. Playthe best-seller choreographed in 2017 by Sweden’s Alexander Ekman, was sold out from December 7 to January 4, at the Palais Garnier. No sooner had Paquita premiered on December 5 than a dancers’ strike forced the cancellation of a performance. Another strike the following day. Four days later, on December 9, spectators of Playthen Paquitareceived a text warning them that their evening had been canceled.

In other words, the end of the year – always a commercially sumptuous time for the Parisian institution – is off to a bad start. Matthieu Botto, dancer and CGT trade union representative, told Agence France-Presse on December 6 that “a large majority of the dancers” are on strike. The uncertainty of the situation is growing by the day: Five performances have already been canceled. As of December 9, the revenue losses, according to figures provided by the Opera, amount to €150,000 for Play and around €260,000 for the four Paquita shows.

What are the reasons for this protest? Following the first cancellation of Paquitapress releases sent out by the artists – the Opera has 154 permanent dancers – and the Opera’s management indicated that the complex issue was not new. The former, some of whom posted about the situation on their Instagram accounts, referred to the fact that Paquita had had to be canceled “following a movement initiated since February 2023 to request a re-evaluation of the preparation time specific to all [their] artistic activities within the Opera.”

With no response from management, the group of 95 performers for Paquita collectively decided “to adhere to the official call-out time of 30 minutes before the start of the show.” In their view, this was not enough time for hair, make-up and warm-up, all of which require between one and a half and two hours. Present at Bastille, as well as the spectators, they had therefore informed the audience that the show would start an hour and a half late. Hence the management’s decision, “despite our efforts to maintain the performance,” to cancel it, refusing, according to the performers’ press release, to allow the dancers to address the audience, as they had requested, to explain the circumstances of this unusual evening.

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