The Spaniard José Martinez is the new ballet director of the Paris Opera. As the house reports that the 53-year-old prevailed against three competitors in the final round. He will take office in December. Trained in Cannes and Paris, Martinez made it into the corps de ballet of the French capital’s opera company in 1988. Nine years later he had danced his way to the top and was promoted to danseur étoile. Martinez masters all style colors between classic and dance theater and also made an international name for himself. Since 2008 he has also sporadically made his own choreographies, from 2011 he directed the national company in Madrid for eight years and ensured a varied, more contemporary program there.
Martinez takes over the Paris Opera Ballet in stormy times. In the summer, his predecessor Aurélie Dupont resigned, whose repertoire policy had triggered sharp criticism among traditional ballet fans. Internally, her management style was controversial. The successor now promises to stand up for “the cohesion of all those involved”. In view of the challenging mission, he wants to do without choreography in the future. With his election, the director general of the Paris Opera, Alexander Neef, is pointing the way for less glamor and more solidity: José Martinez is considered a man of balance and a tasteful ballet curator.