The Ballet School

Created by a decree from Louis XIV in 1713, the Paris Opera Ballet School welcomes nearly 150 students each year, who are recruited after a particularly demanding and selective competition, to pass on to them the style and technique of the French School of Dance, to allow them to approach the vast repertoire of the Paris Opera Ballet, and to introduce them to the various contemporary languages.

This unique apprenticeship, which places repetition of the gesture and direct transmission from master to student at the heart of the training model, allows dancers from the School to join the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet each year following a competition that takes place in July. 

As an exceptional institution in terms of its longevity thanks to a succession of remarkable teachers and the product of a long artistic tradition, the Paris Opera Ballet School has been based in Nanterre since 1987. Since 2004, it has been directed by Étoile dancer Élisabeth Platel. 

Each season, the public demonstrations and the annual production of the Ballet School on the stage of the Palais Garnier are special events during which the public can appreciate the demands of learning to dance. Through this founding experience of the stage, the students present the knowledge necessary for mastering the French School of Dance and give an overview of the other arts and choreographic styles they practice and which complete their training: contemporary dance, folklore, mime, character dance, baroque dance and musical expression.

6 to 8

years of study, starting at age 9

90%

of the Paris Opera Ballet dancers
studied at the Ballet School

152

students in 2023

61

pieces featured today in the School’s repertoire

You can support this project from €5 on this page.

You can also support this project by joining the Cercle Taglioni, from €15,000 (learn more). Your donations to the Opéra national de Paris are tax-deductible. 

66% tax reduction on your income tax (Impôt sur le Revenu - IRPP) :
In accordance with the provisions of the law of August 1, 2003, donors subject to income tax in France are eligible for a tax reduction on their income tax (IRPP) of 66% of the amount of their donation, up to an annual limit of 20% of taxable income. If the 20% limit is exceeded, the reduction can be carried over to the following five years.

Organizations entitled to this benefit:
Arop (Association pour le Rayonnement de l’Opéra national de Paris)
FRONP (Fondation pour le Rayonnement de l’Opéra national de Paris)

75% tax reduction on Property Wealth Tax (Impôt sur la Fortune Immobilière - IFI):
In accordance with the 2018 Finance Bill, donors taxable in France can benefit from a tax reduction on the Impôt sur la Fortune Immobilière (IFI) of 75% of the amount of their donation up to an annual limit of €50,000.

Organization entitled to this benefit:
FRONP (Fondation pour le Rayonnement de l’Opéra national de Paris)

If you are a foreign taxable donor, click here to find out more.