I'm heading to see them in May.(in Paris) But does anyone know if there's a website in English for help with purchasing tickets? I couldn't find a direct link anywhere.

[ March 11, 2002, 03:55 PM: Message edited by: Calliope ]

After looking around, I finally found this posted on the orginal topic. When I last looked at either the French Institute's website or John Jay College's - neither had it listed, as of yet. Guess you'll just have to use that old fashioned invention of the telephone! [img]smile.gif[/img]

(When will the search button come back??!)

'Paris Opera Ballet School'
Special New York Appearance
Wed. May 22 lecture, film & demonstration by Claude bessy with her students: FRENCH INSTITUTE ALLIANCE FRANCAISE, 55 East 59th Street; for
tickets call 212 355 6160 $15 adults; $10 students/members Thur. May 23 & Fri. May 24 performances, John Jay College Theater, 899
Tenth Avenue 212 556 6770 $25 adults; $15 students. program features more than 25 of the school's best performers in 'DESSIN POUR 6' (John Taras); excerpt from M POUR B (Maurice Bejart); excerpt from SEPT DANXES GRECQUES (Maurice Bejart); COPPELIA Act II (Arthur Saint-Leon) and PECHES DE JEUNESSE (Jean Guillaume Bart).

See you there!

[ March 11, 2002, 03:40 PM: Message edited by: BW ]

Thanks BW, I meant to clarify that I'm going to Paris to see them. I found something that they are performing Don Q. but at over-inflated prices, so I'd rather not use a ticket broker.

Calliope, the POB's site is in French, but the information on ordering tickets is available in English. Click on the link for the ballet you want to see. A red box in the upper right-hand corner says "réserver ce spectacle." When you click on it you'll notice a small green tab saying "English." At the bottom, click on "General Terms of Sale" and that will give you ordering information.

I booked tickets online when I went to Paris last year and had no problem. Good luck! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Calliope, when will you be in Paris exactly? In May, there will be a
Stravinsky mixed bill (Douglas Dunn's "Pulcinella", Pina Bausch's "Rite of
Spring" and Balanchine's "Stravinsky Violin Concerto") between May 4 and
May 21 at the Opéra Garnier, and "Don Quichotte" between May 2 and May 18
at the Opéra Bastille (alternating with two operas: "Carmen" and "Le
vaisseau fantôme"). The booking for "Don Quichotte" is already open on the
web (at http://www.opera-de-paris.fr ), but I don't know if there still
are available seats that way (there is a quota of seats for each mode of
booking), the phone booking for it will open next monday. The Internet
booking for the Stravinsky program started today (phone booking starting
on March 25). The prices for "Don Quichotte" are (in euros) 64, 56, 48,
39, 26, 17, 8; those for the mixed bill are 64, 51, 34, 19, 9, 6, 5. The
last two or three categories have bad visibility (especially in Garnier-
in Bastille it can be OK) and probably are sold only at the box office.

If you know more information, just ask...

Thank You Ari and Estelle, I admit, I saw all the French and got too nervous...
I will be there for both the Stravinsky and Don Q., thank you for the seating advice, I won't order the last categories.
I will let you know how it goes.
Merci!

You're welcome. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Have you already been at Garnier or Bastille? Bastille isn't exactly a nice-looking building, and there have been serious complaints about a lot of dysfunctional things off-stage, but it has the advantage that one can hope to see the whole stage from nearly all seats. In Garnier, that's harder, in general it's better to be as close to the center as possible (the amphitheater is not so bad- well, if you're not very tall or with long legs, because the seats are small!)

Good luck for your trip!

[ March 12, 2002, 04:01 AM: Message edited by: Estelle ]

I was at the Opera Bastille for the first time two weeks ago - I booked on the Internet and we had seats in the centre of row 6 of the stalls - a wonderful view of the huge stage. I'm told, though, that the front 4 rows aren't raked so you might not be able to see if someone tall was sitting in front of you.

I've only been to the Chatelet and that wasn't for POB.
They perform in two theatres during a season?

Jane, what about meeting when you next go to Paris? [img]smile.gif[/img]

Calliope, yes, the POB performs at both theatres; more often at Garnier, but also at Bastille. Bastille is larger and has a larger stage, so in general they perform full-length classics there.
There also are operas in both theatres. Having two ballets performed in the same period in the two theaters, as in May, has been more and more common in the last few seasons, but one problem is that it often leads to a high injury rate and to casting problems (especially when there are soloists alternating between two very different styles).

I've never taken stalls seats at Garnier (a bit too expensive for me [img]biggrin.gif[/img] ) so can't offer much advice about it.

Seeing a ballet at the Garnier is a "must" experience for any balletomane who is in Paris, whatever the program may be. The theater is so magnificent, so fabled, and has been so influential in the design of modern opera houses that just visiting it is an experience that makes you feel privileged. This is especially true since the renovation. The great theater looks reborn. When I saw it last year, just from the outside, coming out of the metro, it was the happiest ballet experience I'd had in a long time.

As for seating, I sat in both the second loge de coté and the balcon, and had a good view. At the Bastille, where I saw Die Fledermaus (or Le Chauve Souris, as the French call it), I sat in the second balcony and could see everything, but from pretty far away. For the ballet I'd prefer to be closer. Fortunately, ballet tickets are cheaper than opera tickets.

Calliope:

Just to reassure you, I ordered tickets on the web last year on two different occasions for POB, twice at Garnier and once at Bastille. It was easy to do but be sure to do it well in advance. I would order them immediately before they sell out. One set of tickets we had seated us in something like seat 0 in row b. It was a pull down seat in the midst of the center ailse in the second row. Great seats and not as uncomfortable as I thought they would be. We had no idea that was where the seats were until we got there. The seats came promptly to us in NY in the mail.

Oops, I must have missed the "in Paris" part!
Have a wonderful time Calliope! [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Thank you all for your help. I was able to get both Don Q. and Stravinsky programs!