© Denis Caro POB reviews Renee Renouf reviews

Through Cyril Lafaurie, one of the eminence grises of the French ballet world’s connections with international dance circles, I met Denis Caro, regisseur for the Paris Opera Ballet the summer of 2006 when he and his bride Stephanie came to tour the National Parks in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. They didn’t make the Washington State rain forests, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons or Pike’s Peak, but it still was impressive two young French nationals would be intrigued by areas in my native country I have yet to see. I mentioned over dinner I usually envisioned les jeuns gens francais of Paris as habituees of St. Tropez and that their curiosity had disarmed me.

The foray into North America’s scenic wonders was their honeymoon; they had been married early in July along the Norman seashore, Stephanie being native to that part of northern France.

Both Caros are slender, brunette possessing large inquiring eyes and an unforced politesse. Stephanie is the linguist, fluent in English, Spanish close behind followed by some Italian and German thrown in. Denis was more hesitant, but there was never much doubt about his ability to convey his thoughts.

His ability to speak English was doubly valuable in June as Denis was slated as one of three regisseurs the Paris Opera Ballet included during its major visit to Australia.

En route home from my nephew’s wedding in Jerusalem, I was hosted by the Caros in a small Neuilly-sur-Seine apartment. Stephanie thinks it was one of several once occupied by maids and butlers of the affluent occupants dwelling on the first two or three floors, its lumbering elevator boasting an occupancy of one. Their hospitality provided me with a concise, memorable view of young adult French domesticity.

Denis started his ballet training at the Paris Opera Ballet School when Claude Bessy was in charge of the training. Like Muriel Maffre, Denis completed the rigorous preparation at the Ecole Superieure in the northern outskirts of Paris and was engaged at Nancy, where Pierre Lacotte was the ballet master at the Opera.

Dancing there just one year, having been promoted from the corps de ballet to soloist rank, Denis suffered a major injury to his feet, terminating his career as a dancer. Two years elapsed before he once more walked freely. Wishing to remain active in ballet, Denis undertook two years of training to become an administrator, studying at the University Paris VII Jussieu in Paris.In the United States, there are programs to assist dancers in career transitions, with arts administration being a strong option for many of them. Denis Caro’s post-dancing career seems quite parallel to a recent New York Times article featured Damien Weitzel’s studies at Harvard preparing him for life post-applause with New York City Ballet, and ballet.co readers have been exposed to the administrative posts held by Jeremy Ransom of the Royal Ballet.

Denis had a friend in a public relation agency who allowed him the use of an office computer to prepare his assignments. One of the office workers was Stephanie; their relationship evolved from casual to serious.

During the 1997 Paris International Ballet Competition, Denis worked under Cyril Lafaurie in the capacity of organization/management. His responsibilities at the Competition were the scheduling of classes, rehearsals, exams, and logistic support for theparticipants.

Just after the close of the competition, Denis was informed by the ballet administrator of the Paris Opera that he application as a regisseur was accepted. "I had already send my CV to him six months before; it was six months before I was definitely hired."

During my Paris visit, Denis was immersed in rehearsals at The Bastille for Rudolf Nureyev’s version of Don Quichotte, due to open February 27 running February 27 April 1. “They use the Bastille for full-length works, The Garnier for one-act ballets. The Bastille seats 2000, the Garnier only 1800, but the intimacy there is very special.”

Simultaneously almost, the Garnier was staging Roland Petit’s Proust, though Nureyev’s Cinderella and Frederick Ashton’s version of La Fille Mal Gardee were scheduled at the Garnier.

One morning standing in the kitchen, Denis remarked reflectively, “Do you ever hear a melody repeating in your head after you have heard it so often? When the ballet is ready for production, the rehearsal on stage is a very long series of technical adjustments. We are in the theatre all day, until evening. We rehearse not only the principals in the full ballet, but also the soloists. Every cast change receives a full rehearsal, with full orchestra, so you can imagine how the melodies repeat in my head. This goes on for a week before we dance for the audience.”

Plans to be elsewhere prevented me from seeing Don Quichotte, The comments on ballet.co regarding the perfection of the Paris Opera reminded me of Denis’ comments regarding rehearsals. The Paris Opera leaves nothing to chance; the dancers are thoroughly exposed to their roles. How diametrically different from the tales of the itinerant manifestations of the Ballets Russes!

When the Paris Opera reaches Australia, the memory of the de Basil company success in its three tours may still lurk. But instead of a repertoire of one-acts, the Paris Opera brings a full length Swan Lake. “I am one of three regisseurs who will accompany the ballet. We will have 100 dancers, 12 principals, among them Aurélie Dupont, Nicolas Le Riche, Agnès Letestu, Jose Martinez, Marie-Agnès Gillot, Hervé Moreau, Mathieu Ganio…etc… etc.,etc. We will appear in Swan Lake and Jewels until July. Then Stephanie will join me and we will tour Australia.”

I’m willing to wager another 600 images will join the same number from their 2006 visit to the United States.