Customs Crisis, Standing Ovation: Boston Ballet's Paris Gamble

Boston Ballet opened its five-performance run at Paris's Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in October without a single one of its own costumes or pieces of equipment — all 10 cargo containers had been stuck in customs back in Boston. The company improvised its way to a standing ovation on opening night anyway.

The production team discovered the missing freight upon arrival at the historic Art Deco theater. With little time to spare, the lighting director and technicians sourced lights in Paris and built two substitute lighting units for Alexander Ekman's Cacti. The wardrobe team set off separately, tracking down alternative costumes in Dresden and Bordeaux.

What does a lost-cargo crisis change for a tour?

For the dancers, it changed the schedule but not the work. After two and a half days of preparation, the company had settled into the new time zone and a steady routine: morning class, afternoon rehearsals and, once the substitute costumes arrived, fittings. Last-minute alterations and lighting checks ran alongside dancers moving between dressing rooms, the costume department and the studio. The mood, Pointe reported from behind the scenes, was cheerful and focused.

Paris is familiar ground for the company, which performed in the city in 2019 and 2024 under Mikko Nissinen's leadership. "Who doesn't love to be in Paris?" the artistic director asked with a smile during a jam-packed morning of calls and preparations for opening night. Nissinen is celebrating 25 years at the company's helm.

He chose a double bill for the tour: Ekman's Cacti paired with Akram Khan's Vertical Road (Reimagined). The two contemporary works strike contrasting moods — one playful, the other more dramatic — which Nissinen said reflects the company's versatility and varied repertoire.

"This tour is very important to us to show we are not a museum," Nissinen said. "We are today's theater for today's people."

A Paris debut for Alexis Workowski

For second soloist Alexis Workowski, who danced in Cacti, the tour marked her first time performing in Paris. She won third prize at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition in 2022 before joining Boston Ballet two years ago, and she was delighted to be back in Europe.

"I was so excited to come to Paris. I love seeing how people respect the arts here," she said before class.

Workowski also valued the chance to bond with her colleagues. "In Boston I'm so strict with my schedule that I don't get to go out much with my fellow dancers," she said. "Here, we eat breakfast together every day." Navigating the city and rooming together, she added, brought everyone closer.

Dancing abroad carried practical challenges. Unfamiliar mealtimes and food products complicated individual health needs. Workowski, who has PCOS — a metabolic condition that causes insulin resistance and fluctuating blood sugar levels — found that drinking additional fluids helped. Her key strategy was keeping a familiar rhythm: "Even though I was tired the first few days from dealing with the time change, no matter what, I stuck to my normal routine."

One lead, five nights: Jeffrey Cirio's stamina test

Principal dancer Jeffrey Cirio, who has also been a principal with American Ballet Theatre and English National Ballet, is a veteran traveler. He was nonetheless the only dancer cast in the lead role of Vertical Road (Reimagined) for the five-night run, so the production's success rested heavily on his well-being. To maintain his stamina, Cirio prioritized sleep — and with a 2-year-old back home in Boston, he was even able to catch up on some extended rest.

He still visited a few culinary hot spots on his wish list. "I love the food here, and going to restaurants and wine bars," he said before company class. "But at the end of the day, we are on tour and my priority is to take care of myself and get as much physical therapy as possible."

Both Cirio and Workowski described Paris as an inspiring hub for international dance artists. The company had worked with Ekman via Zoom before its September run of Cacti in Boston, and Workowski was grateful to reconnect with the Swedish choreographer in person in Paris. During rehearsals there, Ekman made small modifications tailored to the current cast.

"He's so detailed and can jump up onstage here to show something, which makes it really clear," Workowski said.

Dancing on Nijinsky's boards

The dancers adjusted to the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées stage with relative ease, despite a slightly harder floor than the company is accustomed to. "As an older theater, it has so much history," Cirio said, citing Vaslav Nijinsky's The Rite of Spring, which infamously debuted there in 1913. That history, for him, was sufficient compensation for any minor inconveniences.

The missing cargo turned up before the second performance. Dancers like Workowski were grateful to be reunited with their original costumes, which for Cacti are matched to each performer's skin tone. "It's a small detail, but it really makes a difference in how everything comes together onstage," she said.

Following the opening-night standing ovation, Nissinen was reflective: "Life is not always predictable. Anything can happen, but the curtain will go up."