G.R.C.O.P.
Established in 1981 by the dancer Jacques Garnier, the G.R.C.O.P. (The Paris Opera's Choreographic Research Group) was comprised of a dozen or so dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet. The group, overtly contemporary, stood out as a company in its own right, encouraging creation and helping to promote renowned American choreographers and the creative young vanguard of French dance. The G.R.C.O.P’s repertoire included works by Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, Alvin Ailey, Karole Armitage, Lucinda Childs, Maguy Marin, François Verret, Karine Saporta, and Philippe Decouflé. Jacques Garnier also bestowed it with two of his ballets: Aunis, first performed in 1979 in La Rochelle by the Théâtre du Silence and reworked into a new version for the group (1981), and Un cœur ouvert (1984), composed for the Étoile dancers Ghislaine Thesmar and Michaël Denard. At the initiative of Rudolph Nureyev, numerous evenings bringing together the dancers of the G.R.C.O.P and the Paris Opera Ballet were programmed at the Salle Favart (Opéra-Comique). Until its disbanding in 1989 following the death of its director, the G.R.C.O.P pursued a mission of outreach and inclusion by introducing new audiences to dance, both in France and internationally, in a wide variety of arenas from schools and offices to Metro stations…
