Roland Petit

Choreographer

Roland Petit was trained at the Ballet School of the Paris Opera and accepted in 1940 into the company’s corps de ballet, which, however, he left in 1944 to develop his own choreographies and to perform at the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris. One year later he founded Les Ballets des Champs-Elysées, which he left in 1948 to set up a new company, Les Ballets de Paris – Roland Petit, with which he created many of his most famous ballets, such as Les demoiselles de la nuit for Margot Fonteyn or Carmen for Zizi Jeanmaire. His international career began during the 1950s when he worked as a choreographer for renowned companies such as the Royal Ballet in London and the American Ballet Theater in New York City. At the same time he also found his place in Hollywood and the entertainment industry, and choreographed revues, musicals and films such as Daddy Long Legs with Fred Astaireand Anything Goes withZizi Jeanmaire and Bing Crosby. In 1973 he became Artistic Director at the Ballet National de Marseille and created numerous masterpieces for his company in the following 26 years. Roland Petit passed away in 2011 at the age of 87. With the premiere of Coppélia in October in the 2019/20 season the Bayerisches Staatsballett performed a Roland Petit work for the very first time.