Laurent Hilaire
| Laurent Hilaire | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 8, 1962 France |
| Occupation | ballet dancer, ballet master, associate artistic director |
| Years active | 1979–present |
Laurent Hilaire (born November 8, 1962) is a French ballet dancer. Regarded as one of the greatest dancers to emerge from ballet over the past few decades, he was an etoile (principal dancer) of the Paris Opera Ballet for 22 years. From 2011 he was the associate artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet and a ballet master with the company since 2005
Hilaire joined the Paris Opera Ballet school in 1975 and entered the company's corps de ballet in 1979, aged 17. On November 2, 1985, he was promoted to etoile (a top-billing principal dancer) by Rudolf Nureyev after a performance of Swan Lake.
Laurent Hilaire became a ballet master with the company in 2005, occasionally performing as an etoile until he made his farewell performance on February 14, 2007. For it he performed George Balanchine's Apollo and Maurice Bejart's Song of A Wayfarer, in which he was partnered by Manuel Legris. After his farewell performance Hilaire was awarded Commander of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the highest rank of the order.
Officer of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 1998
Male Dancer, Benois de la Danse 2004
Chevalier of Legion of Honour 2004
Commander of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 2007
Lifetime Achievement, Benois de la Danse 2007
...
Wikipedia