Paris Opéra Étoile Hugo Marchand Curates a Love Letter at City Center

Paris Opéra Ballet étoile Hugo Marchand opens a self-curated mixed bill at New York City Center on July 23, headlined by Maurice Béjart's Boléro — a work New York has not seen in years.

Marchand, 32, became an étoile in 2017 and has built his reputation on dark, demanding roles: Prince Rudolf in Mayerling and the exposed central figure of Boléro, which he first danced in 2023. For the City Center evening, the Switzerland-based Béjart Ballet Lausanne will join him with roughly 20 dancers, performing Boléro alongside Béjart's The Firebird, a version Marchand says has always moved him and carries "a lot of political resonance."

The invitation grew out of a relationship with Stanford Makishi, City Center's artistic director for dance. Marchand met him a few years ago while performing at Fall for Dance. "He is very sincere, generous, and open-minded, and we immediately clicked," Marchand told Pointe magazine. This season Makishi booked him three times under the Artists at the Center program: for Fall for Dance, for a Studio 5 rehearsal of Manon coached by Alessandra Ferri, and for this curated evening.

The program frames itself around reconciliation. "I wanted to celebrate love," Marchand said. "It may sound a bit corny, but in a world that is becoming increasingly divided, this program is entirely about reconciliation." The bill opens with Sonatine, a tribute to the ties Balanchine built between France and the U.S., and includes work by Carolyn Carlson, the American choreographer who spent her career in France. Marchand also performs the final pas de deux from Angelin Preljocaj's Le Parc with Dorothée Gilbert, his long-time partner, alongside fellow POB principals in pieces by Balanchine, Preljocaj and Carlson.

Bringing Boléro back was Marchand's idea. "I thought it would be incredible to bring Boléro back to New York, because it hasn't been seen there in some time and it's such an emblematic French work," he said. "It's costly to bring 20 or so Béjart dancers over to do it, but Stanford made it happen."

His reading of Boléro has deepened since his debut. "To me, Boléro is a ritual, a space where you go into a trance and connect with the dancers around the table," he said. "It's less about competition than about moving toward a kind of sacrifice, as in Rite of Spring."

The Le Parc duet carries extra weight: Gilbert retires in October. "I've already started to grieve her departure," Marchand said. "We're like an old couple: We know what the other likes and doesn't like, and we completely trust each other. Dancing Le Parc together on this tour is a gift we're giving to ourselves—it is the ultimate kiss, the climax."

A gala program, Superstars of Paris, follows at the Music Center in Los Angeles from July 31, featuring Marchand's colleagues including Gilbert, Germain Louvet — who also dances at City Center — and Hannah O'Neill.

Physically, Marchand is cautious. He recently withdrew from a performance of La Bayadère due to injury. "I'm managing my body, like every dancer past the age of 25," he said, citing a punishing Paris schedule of La Bayadère and Lady of the Camellias. "I had to dig deep, and I hope I will make it through everything this summer without hurting myself more."

He marks 10 years as an étoile in 2027, and he is already planning beyond the company. "We are only passing through, and we will be forgotten as quickly as we arrived," he said of the Opéra. "I love the Opéra and I serve it as best I can. But I think that if that's all you do, when it's time to go, you are left with nothing." His association, Hugo Marchand Pour La Danse, founded in 2022, stages galas at heritage venues across France for €13 (around $15) — the price of a movie ticket. "I want to keep making dance accessible—to use it as a way to bring people together," he said.