Alice Renavand
July 19, 1980 - Saint-Cloud
About
Alice Renavand (b. July 19, 1980 near Paris) is a French dancer. She attended the École de Danse of the Paris Opera beginning in 1990, then joined their corps de ballet seven years later. A natural in contemporary repertoire, she was featured in Béjart's Le Concours in 1999 and Ohad Naharin's Perpetuum in 2000, and was chosen by the great Pina Bausch for her 2002 Rite of Spring. With more and more contemporary choregraphers looking to the Paris Opera's École de Danse for exciting new talents, Renavand continued to make her name in productions like Angelin Preljocaj's Le Songe de Médée, premiered in 2004. She began taking on more classical roles thereafter, starring in her first Swan Lake in 2006.
On December 20, 2013, Renavand was named an étoile (star) of the Paris Opera, following her performance in the contemporary ballet Le Parc by Preljocaj—a rare feat, as étoile designations are typically awarded for classical repertoire.
In July 2022, Renavand intended to bid adieu to the ballet stage at age 42, the traditional retirement age for Paris Opera Ballet dancers. When her intended swan song, the romantic ballet Giselle, was cut short by a knee injury during the second act, she decided to return for one final farewell on May 28, 2023, in Béjart's Boléro. Now retired, Renavand plans to create a collective for former Paris Opera dancers.