Paris, March 18 (AFP\/APP): He is the first black person to achieve the exalted status of an “etoile” dancer at the Paris Opera, but that is only a small indication of what makes Guillaume Diop one of the most exciting ballet talents of his generation.<\/p>\n
At 23, Diop bypassed the rank of “premier danseur” that precedes “etoile” (star) when he was promoted earlier this month — a rare move in the strictly hierarchical 354-year-old company.<\/p>\n
“I have the feeling that I’m dreaming,” Diop told AFP.<\/p>\n
But those who have followed his short career — and seen his explosive leaps and charismatic performances on stage — are not surprised.<\/p>\n
Since 2021, he has taken over lead roles in “Romeo and Juliet”, “Swan Lake” and “La Bayadere” when more senior dancers were injured.<\/p>\n
For “La Bayadere”, he had just three days to prepare for the lead alongside the “queen” of the company, Dorothee Gilbert.<\/p>\n
“It wasn’t easy. I had some crazy days. I had to prove that I was up to the task,” he said.<\/p>\n
He has no time for the inevitable online backlash claiming that he was only promoted due to “positive discrimination”.<\/p>\n
“If I was given these roles, it was because I deserved it,” he said.<\/p>\n
But nor does he mind being referred to “as the first black etoile”. His promotion has been big news in France, where the Paris Opera still has precious few non-white or non-French dancers.<\/p>\n
“It doesn’t bother me because it’s a fact,” he said. “If there had been someone like me back when I started dance, it would have been much easier for my parents and I. It would have reassured them.”<\/p>\n
— ‘Hard to believe’ —<\/p>\n
Diop was raised in Paris by a Senegalese father and a French mother.<\/p>\n
They couldn’t believe the news when he received his recent accolade, as is customary, at the end of a performance — in this case, during a tour in Seoul.<\/p>\n
“With the time difference from South Korea, they had only just woken up… they still find it a little hard to believe, but my father is super proud,” Diop said with a big smile.<\/p>\n
He sees his etoile status as a “beautiful responsibility” to represent French dance in the widest sense, but he is also proud of being a symbol due to his ethnic background.<\/p>\n
“I’m conscious that this will help children get involved in dance,” he said.<\/p>\n
Diop started classical dance classes at eight in spite of concerns from his parents and discouragement from others.<\/p>\n
“People told me: ‘There are no blacks at the Opera’, ‘They won’t pick you because you’re black’. They told me I had a big bottom and flat feet — all the cliches about black people.”<\/p>\n
Once he had made it into the Opera’s school, there were fewer comments, though he still wasn’t sure if he wanted to pursue dancing or go to medical school.<\/p>\n
It was attending a workshop at the famed Alvin Ailey school in New York, and being surrounded by many African-American dancers, that gave him the confidence to throw himself fully into ballet, and he won a place in the Paris Opera company at 18.<\/p>\n
These days, his biggest challenges are overcoming stage fright, not least when he performed at a gala for the late ballet legend Patrick Dupond last month.<\/p>\n
“All the past etoiles were there who I have watched 12,000 times on YouTube,” he recalled with a grin, including his heroes, Nicolas Le Riche and Laurent Hilaire.<\/p>\n
But becoming an etoile allows him to relax into his work, he said.
\n“Being selected at a young age is an opportunity because I can grow with these roles and work more calmly.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris, March 18 (AFP\/APP): He is the first black person to achieve the exalted status of an “etoile” dancer at the Paris Opera, but that is only a small indication of what makes Guillaume Diop one of the most exciting ballet talents of his generation. […]<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-entertainment-news"],"yoast_head":"\n