Noëlla Pontois

ETOILES: DANCERS OF THE PARIS OPERA BALLET celebrates the legacy one of the best ballet companies in the world by weaving together rehearsals, tour snapshots and performances of classical ballets such as Swan Lake and La Sylphide, as well as contemporary works such as Maurice Bejart's Ninth Symphony, Jiri Kylian's Doux Mensonge (Sweet Lies) and Pierre Darde's Orison. Celebrated filmmaker Nils Tavernier endeavors to understand the psychology of dance by talking candidly with some of the biggest stars in dance today. The film also features interviews with the dancers who explain how and why they endure the emotional and physical hardships of their profession in their intense drive to be on stage.

Scenes from the ballet Petrushka, performed by the Paris Opera Ballet at the National Opera Theatre.

Entire ballet filmed in color for Antenne 2 TV channel in December 1983, with Noella Pontois, Rudolf Nureyev, Jean Guizerix and the Paris Opera Ballet. An inestimable testimony to Nureyev’s art as a dancer and as a choreographer.