The Paris Opera Ballet (French: Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris) is the oldest national ballet company in the world, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It has always been an integral part of the Paris Opera, which was founded in 1669 as the Académie d'Opéra (Academy of Opera), although theatrical dance did not become an important component of the Paris Opera until 1673, after it was renamed the Académie Royale de Musique (Royal Academy of Music) and placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully. The Paris Opera has had many different official names during its long history but since 1994 has been called the Opéra National de Paris (Paris National Opera). The company presents ballet primarily at the Palais Garnier.
Serge Lifar (Russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Лифа́рь, Sergey Mikhaylovich Lifar; Ukrainian: Сергій Михайлович Лифар, Serhіy Mуkhailovуch Lуfar) (15 April [O.S. 2 April] 1905 -- 15 December 1986) was a French ballet dancer and choreographer of Ukrainian origin, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century.
As ballet master of the Paris Opera from 1930 to 1944 and from 1947 to 1958, he devoted himself to the restoration of the technical level of the Paris Opera Ballet to return it to its place as one of the best companies in the world.
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As John Hall has noted in the comments below the actual performers on the film are Serge Peretti and Suzanne Lorcia in Ivan Clustine's 'Suite de danses' (1936). This was an unusual mistake, that improperly credited performers that were more well known for these roles in ballet to perhaps sell the film to a wider audience.
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Serge Peretti is a dancer french original Italian, born in Venice in 1905 1 and died in Paris on 20 August 1997. Trained at the School of the Paris Opera , he joined the Ballet in 1920. principal dancer in 1930 , he became the first man to receive the title of Star in 1941. He left the Opera in 1946 to devote himself to teaching dance . From 1962 to 1970, he returned to the opera as a teacher of the class of stars.
Considered the greatest dancer of his time, he is defined by elegance and purity of his technique. He created many roles for Michel Fokine , Leo Staats , Bronislava Nijinska , Lycette Darsonval especially Serge Lifar . In 1945 he choreographed the Call of the mountain of Arthur Honegger . Two months before his death, director Dominique Delouche devotes a film called Serge Peretti, the last Italian.
Susanne Lorcia (December 18 of 1902 - November 27 of 1999 ) was a French dancer. In 1914 at age 12, she began to study dance at the School of the Paris Opera. In 1918 she was hired for the Ballet of the Paris Opera later, in 1931 she became a star dancer, finally leaving the company in 1950 . She also participated in the ballet "Les Animaux Modèles" with Serge Lifar with music by Francis Poulenc.
Official Films was a home movie distributor founded by Leslie Winik in 1939 to produce educational shorts. Soon, after buying the Keystone Chaplin library, they found themselves in the home movie business. Official also purchased the backlog of the Soundies Distributing Corporation of America, releasing numerous short musicals; both singly and in compilation reels.
Film to digital transfer by: Gerald Santana
