Monique Loudières

Monique Loudières (born 15 April 1956) is a French ballet dancer and teacher. A member of the Paris Opera Ballet from 1967, she received the status of principal dancer in 1982. After retiring from the stage in 1996, she continued to accept invitations until 2010. From 2001 to 2008, she was artistic director at the École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower. Born in Choisy-le-Roi, a suburb of Paris, Loudières had enjoyed music from an early age but it was her doctor who recommended she should take up ballet, given her rather fragile constitution. After studying for five years at the Paris Opera Ballet School (1967–1972), she was admitted to the Paris Opera at the age of 16. When she was 19, she danced her first solos in L'Oiseau bleu, Michel Fokine's Le Spectre de la Rose and Paul Taylor's Aureole. Between the age of 13 to 26, Loudières was mentored by Yves Brieux who gave her an understanding of theater, stage, and the idea of projection. George Balanchine and Jerome Robbi...