Roland Petit

Roland Petit was a major French choreographer who fused ballet with theatre, literature, visual design, popular music, revue, and cinema. Born January 13, 1924, in Villemomble, France, Petit entered the Paris Opera Ballet School in 1933 and joined the company's corps de ballet in 1940. At twenty, he left the Opera to present early choreography in Irène Lidova's dance evenings, then founded the Ballets des Champs-Élysées in 1945.

In 1948, Petit established the Ballets de Paris, the company through which his signature theatrical approach took shape. Works including *Le Jeune Homme et la Mort* and *Carmen* demonstrated his method of building narrative ballet through close collaboration with writers, designers, composers, and performers. His repertory—which grew to exceed 165 works—includes *Notre-Dame de Paris*, *L'Arlésienne*, and numerous pieces that were taken up by leading companies internationally.

Petit's work extended beyond the concert stage. He choreographed for Hollywood films including *Hans Christian Andersen*, *The Glass Slipper*, *Daddy Long Legs*, and *Anything Goes*, and directed the film *Black Tights* in 1960, bringing his theatrical sensibility to popular entertainment and cinema.

From 1972, Petit led the Marseille company that became Ballet National de Marseille Roland Petit. In 1992, he founded its national dance school. Petit died in Geneva in 2011.