Monique Loudières

À chaque fois que je participe, cela me remplit d’énergie. C’est une expérience enrichissante et revigorante que de travailler avec des jeunes ! J’ai beaucoup de chance d’exercer ce métier. Je suis très excitée de découvrir toujours de nouveaux talents et j’adore essayer de deviner d’où vient chaque danseur.

Member of the Corps de Ballet of the Paris Opera since the age of 16, Monique Loudières was chosen by Rudolph Nureyev  in 1981, to interpret “Kitri” in his production of Don Quixote. Rosella Hightower, then Artistic Director , named her “Étoile” ballerina in 1982. Thereafter, she danced most of the classical and neoclassical repertory.  She had a predilection for  dramatic heroines from the following ballets: Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Manon, Notre-Dame de Paris, Eugene Onegin.

She has performed  the works of the greatest choreographers: J.Robbins, A. Ailey, G. Balanchine, M. Béjart ,R.Petit, J. Neumeier, S. Lifar, J. Kylian, P. Taylor, K. MacMillan, M. Graham, T. Tharp, W. Forsythe and “Giselle” by Mats Ek. And she also addresses the contemporary repertoire with D.Larrieu, C.Bastin, J Bouvier, R. Obadia, N. Christie, B.Li…

She is also invited as a guest artist  in many companies: Boston Ballet, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Stuttgart Ballet, Staatsoper Berlin, Sadler’sWells Royal Ballet, Tokyo Ballet, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Havana Dance Festival…

In 1993, the Ministry of Culture awarded her the Grand Prix National de la Danse and named her Commander of Arts and Letters in 1996.

After benefiting from the teaching of great masters such as Y.Brieux, Y.Chauviré, P. Lacotte, V.Verdy and R. Nureyev, Monique Loudières stated that she wished to convey her experience to new generations of dancers. She became teacher and coach for the Prix de Lausanne, Europa Danse, Paris Opera Ballet and the National Dance Conservatory (Paris and Lyon).

In 2001, she was appointed Artistic Director of the Cannes Rosella Hightower Ballet School.

In 2003, she was invited to the Paris Opera for the tribute to Rudolf Nureyev, and in Tokyo with M.Legris. She was also invited to interpret duets with L.Hilaire and M.Legris  for the Japanese public in 2004 and 2007.

In November 2007, she created her own version of the ballet Giselle with the Cannes Junior Ballet and Ballet of Nice and Avignon.