Ballet national de Marseille

In 1972, the Mayor of Marseille, Gaston Deferre, suggested to choreographer Roland Petit that he move his company to Marseille, in order to revitalise the city’s opera. At the time, Petit’s company was touring around France and the world. He accepted and created the Ballets de Marseille, rooting it in the modern choreographic style of the 1970s and 80s. In November of that same year, he introduced his first creation, PINK FLOYD BALLET, accompanied live by the legendary rock band themselves. Throughout his career, Roland Petit continued ceaselessly to disrupt the conventions of classical ballet and contemporary dance. In Marseille, he established a practice of collaborating with renowned artists: the designer Yves Saint Laurent, the principal dancer Mikhaïl Barychnikov, and the painters Keith Haring and David Hockney…

In 1981, the company became the Ballet national de Marseille, and 11 years later invested in a site specifically designed by the architect Roland Simounet to host the Ballet’s activities, as well as those of the École national de danse de Marseille, which was also created by Roland Petit.

The Ballet national de Marseille became a National Choreographic Centre in 1984, under the direction of Roland Petit. He was then succeeded by Marie-Claude Pietragalla (1998-2004), Frédéric Flamand (2004-2014), and Emio Greco and Pieter C.Scholten (2015-2019). Each director developed new artistic dynamics and increased work to raise awareness of the centre.

The collective (LA)HORDE took over direction of the BNM in 2019, after being nominated by the Minister of Culture and the City of Marseille. In line with their predecessors’ approach, they view the Ballet as a tool for unrestricted creation, open to all artistic forms of writing and collaboration.

For (LA)HORDE, the Ballet is a safe space, focused on the youth and young artists, to explore new ways of representation and sharing of artistic forms. In their transdisciplinary creations, they question what ballet is in the digital age and continually consider the political concerns that mark our time: diversity, inclusivity, and openness of institutional and cultural sites to bodies and practices that still are not provided with enough visibility.