For the second consecutive season, the House of CHANEL is the patron of the Gala opening night for the dance season of the Opéra national de Paris, with the performance taking place on September 20th 2019 at the Palais Garnier.

The House of CHANEL’s intimate links with dance follow in the footsteps of Gabrielle Chanel: fascinated by movement and a keen adherent of comfort, right from the start she drew inspiration from dancing to invent a new freedom for the silhouette. The designer loved being surrounded by the artists of her era and was a friend and patron of Serge Diaghilev, the founder of the Ballets Russes. She made the costumes for several ballets, most notably Le Train bleu in 1924, which marked the era with its utterly contemporary vision of dance costumes.

The Gala opening evening for the 2019/2020 dance season of the Opéra de Paris continues these artistic affinities. After the presentation of the Ballet, a tradition dear to the Opéra de Paris, established by Serge Lifar, the performance will present a ballet choreographed by the very same Serge Lifar, Variations, set to the music of Franz Schubert, in costumes revisited by the House of CHANEL, under the direction of Virginie Viard, Artistic Director of the Fashion collections. The program will also offer extracts of great ballets from the choreographic repertoire: Trois Préludes by Ben Stevenson, Tchaïkovski Pas de deux by George Balanchine, ab [intra] by Rafael Bonachela, and Blake Works I by William Forsythe.

An exceptional evening that celebrates the House of CHANEL’s vibrant and eternal links with dance, and as Aurélie Dupont, Director of Dance at the Opéra national de Paris, says: “Just like the Opéra de Paris, the House of CHANEL is an institution, both classical and contemporary: it has an incredible heritage, but also a strength, a modernity and an open-mind.”