Roland Petit

Roland Petit

Carmen

Trained at the Paris Opera Ballet

school, Roland Petit joined the

company in 1940 but left in 1944

to create and perform his own

works at the Theatre Sarah

Bernhardt, in Paris. In 1945 Petit

was instrumental in creating Les

Ballets des Champs-Elysees, where

he remained as principal dancer,

ballet master, and choreographer

until 1947. In 1948 he formed the

Ballets de Paris de Roland Petit,

which made several tours of

Europe and the United

States.

His choreography was often

angular or acrobatic and was

considered theatrical in its use of

mime dance, occasional singing,

and props such as cigarettes and

telephones.

Petit staged several music hall

revues and choreographed the

dances for the films Hans Christian Andersen, The Glass Slipper, Daddy Long Legs, Anything Goes, and others.

The ballet film Black Tights consisted of Petit's

works La Croqueuse de diamants, Cyrano de Bergerac, A Merry Mourning, and

Carmen. Petit also staged

several of his ballets for Sadler's

Wells Ballet (now the Royal

Ballet), for the Royal Danish

Ballet, and for other troupes. From

1970 to 1975 he owned and

operated the Casino de Paris. In

1973 he became director of the

Ballet de Marseille. He

choreographed a modern version

of Coppelia in 1975 and a

new Phantom of the Opera

for the Paris Opera Ballet in

1980.