The wealth of the repertoire, the youth of the performers and the calibre of the stars make the Paris Opera Ballet (BOP) an indisputable modern icon. The BOP, which today is one of the best, if not the best ballet company in the world, has a double vocation: to maintain its exceptional live repertoire, and be open to creativity; thus their programmes cover the Romantic period, the classical master works of the Russian ballets, modern works, twentieth century Neoclassicism and contemporary choreography.

The relationship between Rudolf Nureyev –the best ballet dancer of the twentieth century and possibly the best who has ever lived - with the BOP was never easy. In 1961, after leaving the Kirov ballet in Leningrad, where he was the lead dancer, right in the middle of a tour, the company was put under pressure from the Moscow Government not to take him on. After time at the Ballet del Marqués de Cuevas and the London Royal Ballet, he finally became its Director between 1983 and 1989, years in which he determined its unmistakable character, introducing his versions of the classics by Petipa, as well as the ballets he himself created, and incorporating the work of G. Balanchine, J. Robbins and W. Forsythe as guest choreographers, offering great opportunities to youthful talent.

Extroverted, daring, brilliant and the master of an impressive self-discipline, the Russian ballet dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev, considered to be the most important figure in dance from the second half of the twentieth century and without doubt, the most talented and influential of the dancers of recent decades, died in Paris in 1993 at the age of 54.