Paris Opera Ballet bringstale of love and honor

Company will present ‘Clavigo,’ with choreography by Roland Petit

The Herod Atticus Theater is to welcome the Paris Opera Ballet this week, with two performances scheduled to take place tomorrow and on Saturday. Part of this year’s Athens Festival events, the renowned troupe comes to Athens to present “Clavigo,” choreographed by Roland Petit.

Based on a work of the same name by Goethe, first published in 1774, “Clavigo” focuses on issues of unfaithfulness, responsibility and punishment, but also love and passion. It was originally inspired by an account written by French playwright Beaumarchais, in which Clavigo, a real personage from the Canary Islands, seduced Beaumarchais’s sister during her stay in Madrid. The playwright then took it upon himself to settle the matter of his sister’s honor.

Established in the mid-17th century, the Paris Opera Ballet is known for great performances featuring leading soloists and choreographers on the one hand, and as an influential player on the global dance scene, on the other. Brigitte Lefevre, the company’s artistic director since 1996, aims to develop a repertoire that will transcend time.

At the age of 20, Roland Petit resigned from the Paris Opera Ballet in order to set up his own troupe, Les Ballets des Champs-Elysees. In 1972, he became one of the founders of the Ballet National de Marseille.

Throughout his career, however, he maintained his ties with the Paris Opera Ballet, choreographing a plethora of works, the most recent being “Clavigo,” originally staged in 1999.

In “Clavigo,” Petit collaborated with noted professionals: critically acclaimed Gabriel Yared (winner of the Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy awards for the original “English Patient” score), who worked on the music; noted Italian costume designer Luisa Spinatelli, who designs for the theater, opera and ballet; accomplished French architect and interior architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, who made “Clavigo” his first ever project for the theater by designing the sets, and Marion Hewlett, who worked on the production’s challenging lighting.

The Paris Opera Ballet’s performances in Athens feature the troupe’s star soloists Nicolas Le Riche, Clairemarie Osta, Yann Bridard, Marie-Agnes Gillot and Yann Saiz.