Roland Petit

Roland Petit was born in France in 1924 and had a major influence on dance in the 20th century. He trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School and joined the company's corps de ballet in 1940, leaving in 1944 to develop his own choreography. A year later he founded Les Ballets des Champs-Elysées, which he left in 1948 to create his new company, Les Ballets de Paris - Roland Petit. With this company he created many of his most famous ballets, such as Les demoiselles de la nuit and Carmen. While his international career began in the 1950s and he worked as a choreographer worldwide for renowned companies such as the Royal Ballet in London or the American Ballet Theatre in New York City, he expanded his creative spectrum: he entered Hollywood's entertainment industry and choreographed revues, musicals and films such as "Daddy Long Legs" with Fred Astaire or "Anything Goes" with Zizi Jeanmaire and Bing Crosby. In 1973 he became artistic director of the Ballet National de Marseille and created numerous masterpieces there in the following 26 years. For his productions, Petit teamed up with other famous creators: Marcel Landowski, Gabriel Yared and Henry Dutillieux composed ballet music and a specially choreographed ballet took place with the stage collaboration of Pink Floyd. The fashion designers Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior designed costumes for him and artists such as Pablo Picasso, Niki de Saint Phalle and Max Ernst created stage designs for his ballets. Until his death in 2011, he worked with the world's most renowned companies and created over 100 choreographies. At the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Roland Petit's "Carmen" can be seen in the ballet evening "I am a problem" in the 2021/22 season.