Vienna Ballet director Legris stays on until 2017
AFP
VIENNA- Former French star dancer Manuel Legris will stay on as director of the Vienna Ballet until 2017, having revolutionised the stuffy old institution, the company announced Wednesday.
Legris, who launched a ballet revival in the Austrian capital after arriving here in September 2010, has extended his contract -- initially due to run out in August 2015 -- by two years, the Vienna Opera said in a statement.
A former "etoile" with the Paris Opera Ballet, he retired in 2009 following a 29-year career with the esteemed ensemble.
In Vienna however he took the reins of a company that had long played second fiddle to the opera.
However, with eight premieres in his first season as director, followed by exciting new works and guest appearances abroad, Legris has greatly raised the profile of the Vienna State Ballet, considered today to be one of the top companies in the world.
He has also performed at the opening of the traditional Vienna Opera Ball and in galas dedicated to his former mentor, star dancer Rudolf Nureyev.
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In Vienna however he took the reins of a company that had long played second fiddle to the opera.
However, with eight premieres in his first season as director, followed by exciting new works and guest appearances abroad, Legris has greatly raised the profile of the Vienna State Ballet, considered today to be one of the top companies in the world.
He has also performed at the opening of the traditional Vienna Opera Ball and in galas dedicated to his former mentor, star dancer Rudolf Nureyev.
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