Gilbert, Dorothea

From the age of seven, Dorothea Gilbert studied at the Toulouse National Conservatory, at eleven she tried to enter the Dance School at the Paris Opera, but failed. In 1995 , a year after the first attempt, she successfully passed the entrance exams and was accepted into the fifth division of the ballet school. According to Dorothea, in childhood she was not a very gifted dancer, and she had to achieve the qualities necessary for ballet, overcoming great difficulties ^[1] . “When I was still very young, I realized that dance is my passion, so from childhood I had tremendous willpower to work. When I did not go to a choreographic school for the first time, I realized that I had to work even harder and doubled the hours of classes, ”said Dorothea ^[1] . One way or another, Gilbert’s advancement in the hierarchy of the school was swift: in 1996, she went up to the second division and at the same time acted in the lead role in The Firebird . An important role in the professional growth of Gilbert was played by her teacher, the famous French dancer Manuel Legri. Enrollment of Dorothea Gilbert in the troupe of the National Opera took place in 2000 .

In 2002, Dorothea first played the solo part - the bridesmaid in Don Quixote . Then she participates in Giselle by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot , Symphonies , Pas de Tchaikovsky and Baroque Concert by George Balanchine , Swan Lake by Rudolf Nureyev and in his Don Quixote, where is successful in the new Kitri party. It is in the footsteps of the latter, in 2003, Gilbert receives the rank of coryphaeus. Already in 2004 , he became a soloist. At this time, she is engaged in interpreting Effie for Pierre Lacotte and Kitri's La Sylphide for the Nurey work and plays in Harald Lander's Etudes and Balanchine's Jewels. A strong performance in the image of Gamzatti in “ La Bayadere ”, together with the well-received “ Carmen ” by Roland Petit and “Romeo and Juliet” Nureyev contributes to the transition of Dorothea to the status of prima ballerina. Being a step away from the top, it fruitfully works in 2006-2007 . Her assets include “Artifact” and “Dizzying Delight in Accuracy” by William Forsythe , “Paquita” Lacotte with the title role, “Lady with Camellias” by John Neumeier and “Cinderella” Nureyev. In 2007, as part of the Japanese part of the “Friends of Manuel Legry” tour, the Frenchwoman first danced the parts of Odette and Odile in “Swan Lake”. A little later he was selected for the role of Lisa in the " Vain Precaution " by Frederick Ashton .

Unusual, but turned out to be, however, for reasons beyond the control of the performers, the performance of The Nutcracker on November 19, 2007, which took place without decorations, props and appropriate costumes due to a strike by theater workers, culminated in the proclamation of Dorothea Gilbert as an etual of the Paris National Opera. Managing partner of Dorothea in the historical production was Manuel Legri, her mentor in former times and a true friend in the present. Further, the ballerina takes an active part in a series of international gala concerts of the Paris Opera and becomes widely known. Her stage repertoire is supplemented by the title role in Giselle, the main character and Henrietta in Raymond , Nikia in La Bayadere and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet Nureyev, Albertina in Proust, or Heartbreaks Petya, Tatyana in Onegin "by John Cranco , as well as, in fact, etual in" Little Dancer Degas "by Patrice Barth. She plays “Apollo” and “Symphony in C major” by Balanchine, “Concert” and “Dances at a party” by Jerome Robbins , “Third Symphony by Gustav Mahler ” by Neumeier, “Maybe this is death?” By Maurice Bejart , “Psyche” by Alexei Ratmansky , “The Triad” of Benjamin Milpieu , “Suite in White” by Serge Lifar , “Clouds” by Jiri Kilian . Very popular in Italy , in December 2009 Dorothea agreed to the invitation of the Teatro Massimo and on the main stage Palermo plays the main role in Sleeping Beauty . Having recovered from an injury received at the beginning of 2010 , and taking part in the Far Eastern tour of the Paris Opera, in April Gilbert returns to the Apennines and until July inclusively performs, mainly with Coppelia , on the stages of Messina , Aqui Terme and San Remo .

In the summer of 2010, Dorothea Gilbert creates the image of Anna of Austria in The Three Musketeers, a new production of Lacotte. In the second half of the year, he is actively working on Giselle, Cinderella and, especially, Paquita, with whom he performs at the venues in Japan, China and, for the first time, in Russia , namely, at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater .

September 26, less than a week after the end of the Novosibirsk performances, Dorothea, along with other soloists of the Paris Opera, Matilda Frouste, Alessio Carbone and Mathieu Gagno, takes part in the Moscow gala concert " Stars of the 21st Century Ballet " ^[2] . Before performing at the October gala concert in Toronto , Gilbert goes to Rio de Janeiro , where Kitri plays “Don Quixote” staged by the American Ballet Theater as a guest ballerina. Until the end of the year, she also plays Gamzatti in La Bayadere and again - etual in The Little Dancer Degas.

In February 2011, in the first tour of the Bolshoi for twenty years, Parisians presented a program of three one-act ballets. In the first of them, Suite in White, with the variation of the Flute number, Dorothea Gilbert and, according to some Russian critics, took part ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} , along with other stars, Mathieu Gagno, Isabelle Siaravola and Jose Martinez managed to “pull out” the production that was not developing in the most successful way and, to which Dorothea’s merit was already, complete it with a major note.

The 2011/12 season at the Paris Opera opened with Ratmansky's Psyche with Gilbert in the title role. In October 2011, Dorothea and Stefan Bouillon, at the invitation of the same Ratmansky, took part in a series of Hanoi productions of fragments from various works, in particular, they played Act III “Raymonda” and “Pas de de Diana and Acteon” from “ Esmeralda ”. In 2012 , at the beginning of the new season, Gilbert, getting ready for La Bayadere, was injured, but soon returned to duty, however, the attitude of the Paris Opera ballet in the person of her director changed her attitude. The penultimate season at Brigitte Lefebvre for Dorothea Gilbert herself was described as “strange” ^[7] . Firstly, this etuale did not receive a definition for the expected roles, in particular, it turned out to be bypassed by the party of Carmen in the ballet of the same name , which had high hopes, and secondly, due to the unusually small number of appointments for the ballerina, the number of appointments to other productions became virtually pushed aside in the background. Having thus a free schedule, Dorothea became an invited ballerina and already at the end of September participated in a tour of the United States , visiting the venues in Washington , New York , and Chicago .

At the beginning of 2013, as part of a Paris ballet tour, the Frenchwoman plays the first big production of the season, Giselle at the Sydney Opera House . Continuing the practice of performing as a guest ballerina, Dorothea dances in the Romeo and Juliet by Bart and La Bayadere until the end of the season on the stages of the Roman Opera and Mariinsky Theaters, respectively. Due to the busyness in Rome, Gilbert was not able to take part in the photo shoot dedicated to the centenary of the Paris Ballet School, and the additional shootings scheduled for a little later did not take place. At the same time, Dorothea participated in the shooting for the fashion brand Repetto , a well-known manufacturer of ballet shoes, with whom in 2012, with the consent of the Paris Opera, she signed a three-year contract ^[8] . The format of cooperation, following the expansion of the brand’s activities, underwent changes and, inspired by the examples of Aureli Dupont and Marie-Agnes Gilo, Dorothea decided to switch from film shoots to filming. July 1, 2013 she became the face of the first perfume collection Repetto ^[9] and as part of an advertising campaign starred in the film “Instants Précieux” ^{[10] by} Seraphim Dusseyer.

Gilbert performed only at the very beginning of the 2013/14 season, but she missed most of it because of pregnancy. In April 2014 she returned to rehearsals.

Dorothea Gilbert was married to Alessio Carbone, her troupe partner. Now - in a relationship with photographer James Bort, whom she met during a collaboration for Repetto . In March 2014, Dorothea gave birth to a daughter from him ^[11] .

• AROP Prize: 2002 (along with Christoph Duchenne)
• Carpo Prize : 2004 (along with Josua Uffal)
• Leonid Myasin Prize: 2006
• Cavalier of the Order of Arts and Literature : 2014 (France)

• 2011 - Coppelia ( Fr. Coppélia , dir .: Arthus Saint-Leon)
• 2011 - The Little Dancer Degas ( French: La Petite Danseuse de Degas , dir .: Patrice Barth)
• 2013 - Don Quixote ( FR Don Quichotte , dir .: Kevin Rhodes)

• Official site of Dorothea Gilbert
• Card on the official website of the Paris National Opera
• Card on Kremlin Gala