“Everyone to the opera!” : behind the scenes of the Palais Garnier

Put on the costume of a toreador in Carmenthis is the delight of visitors to the Opéra Garnier. “It is above all the sewing that amazes me”said a visitor. “Dyes, embroideries, everything is done here. It’s a beautiful heritage”, says Joël Viala, head of the Paris Opera’s clothing department. By opening its doors on the weekend of May 6, 7 and 8 as part of the “All at the Opera!” operation, by revealing its professions, the opera wishes to win over a new audience.

Another possibility: attend, like a star or a little rat, a lesson given by the ballet’s dance teacher. “Many people who love dance, especially classical and contemporary, want to participate”observes Andrey Klemm, ballet teacher at the Paris Opera. “Dancing in such a setting is just incredible”, says an amateur. For this fifteenth edition, the public is always there, the French love dance and its trades.