Monique Loudières

After studying for five years at the Ballet School of the Opéra de Paris, Monique LOUDIÈRES was admitted to the Opéra de Paris at the age of 16, and danced her first solos at the age of 19, performing: “L’Oiseau bleu”, “le spectre de la rose” and “Auréole”.

In 1981, Rudolf NUREYEV chose her to dance “Kitri” in his production of DON QUICHOTTE (Don Quixote) and, following this performance, Rosella HIGHTOWER, the then Ballet Director, promoted her Étoile, in 1982.

From that moment on, she danced the entire classical and neo-classical repertoire, but pursued a preference for great dramatic heroines: “Giselle”, “Romeo and Juliette”, “Manon”, “Notre-Dame-de-Paris”, “Eugène Onégine”.

She was particularly inspired by Jerome ROBBINS: “In the Night”, “Dances at a Gathering”, “The Concert”, “Other Dances”, and performed the works of today’s greatest choreographers: M. BEJART, J. NEUMIEIER, G. BALANCHINE, S. LIFAR, J. KILIAN, P. TAYLOR, R. PETIT, K. MAC MILLAN, M. GRAHAM, T. THARP, A. AILEY, W. FORSYTHE and “Giselle” by Mats EK.

She also performed roles from the contemporary repertoire with D. LARRIEU, C. BASTIN, J. BOUVIER, R. OBADIA, N. CHRISTIE, B. LI.

She has been the guest Étoile for a myriad of companies: the Boston Ballet, La Scala of Milan, the Stuttgart Ballet, the Berlin Stads Oper, Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, the Tokyo Ballet, the Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires and the Havana Ballet Festival, to name but a few.

Monique LOUDIÈRES benefitted from the teaching of great masters such as Y. BRIEUX, Y. CHAUVIRÉ, P. LACOTTE, V. VERDY and R. NUREYEV, who was also her partner in most of her productions. As such, she wished to pass on her experience to new generations of dancers.

She became teacher and coach for the Prix de Lausanne, Europa Danse, the Opéra de Paris and the CNSM (Higher National Conservatory of Music and Dance) of Paris and Lyon.

In 1993, she was awarded the Grand Prix National de la Danse by the French Minister for Culture and was decorated in 1996 as a Commandeur des Arts et Lettres.

In 2001, she became Artistic and Pedagogical Director of the Ecole Supérieure de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower.