The Paris Opera announced on Friday the disappearance of the star dancer at the age of 86. The latter was noticed in the 1960s and was throughout his career defender of the French Ballet School.
Mo12345lemonde with AFP
The Paris Opera announced , Friday, January 27, the death of Attilio Labis, former big star dancer of the institution and defender of the French Ballet school, at the age of 86.
#attiliolabis
The Paris National Opera has the sadness to learn the disappearance of Attilio Labis, a star dancer,… https://t.co/g3iiguoffd that : //twitter.com/balletoparis/status/1618986499143536640 “Data-datetime =” “>
Born on September 5, 1936 of a Sicilian father and a French mother, this dancer became a small rat of the Paris Opera before joining the Company in 1954. Sent on the field of the Algerian War ( 1954-1962) In 1958, he returned to the ballet a year later.
“A king of Olympus” noticed in the 1960s
Attilio Labis stood out on the opera floor when he dances in 1960, alongside the great dancer Claude Bessy, no gods, a ballet of the Hollywood legend Gene Kelly. MO12345Themonde then describes him as “a king of the juvenile and superb Olympus”. It was following his performance that he was appointed star dancer. His performance in Icare, which the choreographer Serge Lifar created in 1935 and taken up in 1962, with new decorations and costumes of Pablo Picasso, is also very appreciated.
Regard of Christiane Vlassi, herself a star dancer and with whom he had two children, Attilio Labis was rented throughout her dancer career for his unstoppable technique.
“Labis not only has become a carrier worthy of the Russians, but he is now embarking on towers of force that he himself removed in the air,” reports Mo12345lemonde in December 1963 after a representation of Lac des Cygnes.
Defender of the French style, based in particular on feet work, he had however taken courses in Russia with great pedagogues like Alexandre Pouchkine, Professor of Rudolf Noureev and Mikhaïl Barshnikov.
the Incarnation of “La Dance Française”
He was also choreographer, creating for the Paris Arcades opera, a ballet paying tribute to the French school, but also a version of Romeo and Juliet and Spartacus, then professor at the Dance School ‘Opera and ballet, but also abroad.
At the announcement of his death, several opera dancers paid tribute to him, like the ex-star Manuel Legris, director of the Ballet de la Scala in Milan. “A magnificent dancer (…) a very great teacher with unique education, fervent defender of the Paris Opera (…) an unfortunately revolted era but who will leave us indelible memories”, he wrote On Instagram .
For ex-star Marie-Claude Pietragalla, he was the embodiment of “French dance in what she has elegance, power and virtuosity”. Among the young generation, the star Hugo Marchand commented: “Thank you for everything you have done for dance.”