Bordeaux Opera: “Le Corsaire speaks above all of freedom”

Created in Paris in 1856 but long absent from European stages, the ballet "Le Corsaire" is being danced from July 2 to 13 at the Grand-Théâtre. The version proposed is that of José Martinez, director of the Paris Opera, who had already presented his "Don Quixote" in 2023. We met him

After "Don Quixote" in 2023 , here comes "Le Corsaire" in 2025. Two ballets from the great repertoire for the end of the season at the Bordeaux Opera, but with the same choreographer: José Martinez, former star dancer of the Paris Opera, where he is now the director of the Ballet. It is therefore a great name in dance that the Grand-Théâtre welcomes from July 2 to 13, and a work rarely presented in Western Europe, even though it was created in Paris in 1856. Details.

You're returning to Bordeaux two years after your first collaboration. Do you have a connection with this opera house?

Yes, there are a lot of former dancers here that I knew at the Paris Opera school. Kylian Tilagone, Neven Ritmanic, I worked with them when they were between 8 and 12 years old. And then I danced with the Bordeaux Ballet as a guest artist during the Charles Jude era, and there are still a few dancers from that era in the company. But if I'm coming back, it's mainly because Éric Quilleré [director of the Ballet, editor's note] found it interesting to have "Le Corsaire" in his season. I think it allows him to balance it with a well-known title.

We appreciated your taking your "Don Quixote" out of its Spanishness. Are you also taking "Le Corsaire" out of a cheap Türkiye?

Yes, completely. The idea isn't to situate the ballet anywhere, but to base it on rhythm and action. Of course, I kept an oriental touch in the trio of odalisques, the enchanted garden scene, or the very famous pas de deux, but I simplified the story, resulting in a shorter ballet: forty-five to fifty minutes for the first part, about forty for the second.

The main problem I had with this ballet was that there were so many characters, so many things happening all the time, that it was hard to keep up. So I cut roles to focus on the love story between Conrad and Medora, and that guides everything else. For me, this ballet is all about freedom. It's the story of a captive sold in the marketplace, but who ultimately manages to take her destiny into her own hands and break free.

"It's a fairly choral ballet, ultimately, with soloists who appear and disappear, and moments when they dance with the whole company."

But beyond the two main characters, I developed other couples, with different characteristics. I also made the Pasha dance for his dream scene, whereas until then, what he was doing was almost just an extra. It's a fairly choral ballet, ultimately, with soloists who appear and disappear, moments where they dance with the whole company. The story takes place in a marketplace, so there are people everywhere.

Isn't it complicated to balance your work as a choreographer with your responsibilities at the Paris Opera?

Yes, and that's why I'm not choreographing anymore at the moment! I'm just following my old ballets, with the help of a whole team of collaborators. In Bordeaux, I managed to come from time to time to correct two or three things, to make it more fluid, more musical. But for the rest, it was Agnès Letestu [the dancer with whom he formed one of the star couples in Paris in the 1990s-2000s, Editor's note] who followed the rehearsals.

From 10 to 60 euros. opera-bordeaux.com