Colasande Valentine
Ballerina
Opéra de Paris, Parigi
Born to Italian parents, she spent her childhood between Italy and Paris. She grows up in an artistic world: her mother is a dance teacher and her father is a pianist. Sensitive and outgoing, the family environment allows her to reveal a true passion and predisposition for dancing very early on. Valentine begins her dance studies by attending the course of Max Bozzoni (former Opéra Principal dancer) who will follow her until she enters the Paris Opéra Ballet School.
In 2006 she joined the Paris Opéra Ballet Company. In 2009 she won the internal competition becoming "Coryphée" and in 2010 she was promoted to Soloist ("Sujet"). From this moment, she was entrusted with more important roles such as: Kitri in Don Quixote, Gamzatti in La bayadère, Thèmes et Variations and Rubies (G. Balanchine), Dances at a Gathering (J. Robbins), In the middle somewhat elevated (W. Forsythe) or Le Sacre du Printemps (P. Bausch).
On 5 January 2018 she was named Étoile of the Opéra de Paris. Valentine now plays the great roles of the classical repertoire such as Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Raymonda, and works with great contemporary choreographers such as A.T. De Keersmaeker, W. McGregor, W. Forsythe, Sol Leon, Paul Lightfoot and Jiri Kylian.
