Claude Bessy
Claude Bessy (born in Paris, 20 October 1932) is a French ballerina, ballet master of the Paris Opera Ballet (1970–1971) and director of the Paris Opera Ballet School (1972–2004).
Bessy trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School from the age of ten, the youngest student ever admitted, and joined the Paris Opera Ballet at age 13, the youngest danseuse ever admitted. In 1956, she was promoted to étoile, the Ballet's highest rank. Bessy was closely associated with Serge Lifar and created leading roles in his 1951 Snow White, 1955 Noces fantastiques and 1958 Daphnis and Chloe. She worked with John Cranko, who made his 1955 La Belle Hêlène on her, and George Skibine, who made a second Daphnis and Chloe on Bessy in 1959.
Bessy was featured in Gene Kelly's film Invitation to the Dance (1956), and four years later he created Pas de dieux at the Paris Opera for her. She also made many television appearances. Bessy has staged ballets for the Comédie Française and Opéra Comique, dances for the musical My Fair Lady (1984) and continues to stage the ballets of Lifar throughout Europe.
As director of the Paris Opera Ballet School, she introduced profound reforms to the teaching regime which led to the birth of a new generation of highly technical dancers like Sylvie Guillem, Patrick Dupond, Élisabeth Platel, Marie-Claude Pietragalla, and succeeded in organising the construction of a new school building in Nanterre inaugurated in 1987.
Bessy was named to France's Ordre national du Mérite (dignity of the Grand Cross, its highest class), in 2009.
Source: Article "Claude Bessy (dancer)" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Known For | Acting |
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Most Rating | 0.698 |
Birthday | 1932-10-21 |
Place of Birth | Paris, France |
Also Known As | Claude Jeanne Andrée Durand, |
1973
Maître Bolbec et son mari
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Maître Bolbec et son mari
1956
Invitation to the Dance
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Three completely different stories are told through dance.
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Invitation to the Dance
1950
Dream Ballerina
4/1
A young dancer, disappointed with her debut on stage, has three dreams: fame in dancing at the Paris Opera, wealth through her marriage to an importan...
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Dream Ballerina
1957
A Night in the Balearics
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Mrs. Vargas has decided that her daughter Alma will marry Duke Pablo Dominguez, a good match for her, but not to the young lady's taste. Knowing that...
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A Night in the Balearics
1958
Vive les vacances
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Roger and Jeannot, two jolly good fellows, are workers in a car factory. When the summer holidays come they merrily mount their scooter and head for t...
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Vive les vacances
1957
Ballet terrain vague
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Short film based upon a ballet by Yves Bonnat & Françoise Adret
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