Denard Michal

French dancer who performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris before joining the Paris Opera in 1965. He was named étoile (star) in 1971. In the 1970s and 1980s he danced on the premier stages of the world and was invited to such prestigious companies as the American Ballet Theatre, the Bolshoi Theatre and the Mariinsky Theatre. He partnered great ballerinas such as Ghislaine Thesmar, Natalia Bessmertnova, Ekaterina Maximova, Natalia Makarova and Sylvie Guillem. He created many premiere roles in ballets by leading choreographers such as Maurice Béjart, Jerome Robbins, Merce Cunningham, Patrice Bart, Roland Petit and Alvin Ailey. He was director of the Berlin State Opera from 1993 to 1996. Link to Wikipedia biography (French) Read less