Paul Brand ©James Bort

The star dancer of the Paris Opera Paul Marque was the guest on the main stage of We are French Touch, organized by Bpifrance at the Maison de la Mutualité. On this occasion he agreed to answer our questions with the grace that characterizes him.

Paul Marque and Constance Arnoult, co-founder of the cultural media L'éluité, on the Full Frame stage during We Are French Touch at the Maison de la Mutualité.

Relive the We Are French Touch 2023 edition event

French Touch: You started dancing very young. What little boy were you?

Paul Brand: That’s a very good question, but one to ask my parents (laughs)! I was very happy, a little hyperactive on the edges like many children, and then already passionate. I danced everywhere: in the street, in the playground... According to my brothers and sisters, I was teased at school because I danced.

FT: How did dance come to capture your personality?

PM: I don't remember because I started really early. We have no memories of early childhood. Dance has always been with me and even still today. I can't wait for the weekend, but I know that after two days I will miss dancing and I can only look forward to Monday to return to my class . It really is an integral part of me.

FT: On December 13, 2020, after the Bayadère show, without an audience but with 10 spectators at a distance, you were named star dancer by the management of the Paris Opera. Tradition dictates that it was a surprise announcement. What do you think triggered this decision?

PM: I still don’t understand it…really! We access all other grades by competitive examination: on D-day if we are the best, we get the job, it is factual and on a specific date. But on this nomination, even today, three years later, I don't know how it was decided, if it was discussed long in advance, if it happened at the last moment... It's so sacred and mythical that even if all 1800 employees of the Opera are aware of it, the person concerned will know nothing about it. It's too sacred to be violated.

FT: Becoming a star dancer was your dream since you were little. How do we take on such a role?

PM: I dreamed of being a principal dancer, but what made me dream was to dance leading roles. That was really what I wanted to do: when I saw a ballet, I wanted to play the leading role in La Bayadère, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker… When I was principal dancer, I had that chance , to dance these roles a lot. So it’s a progressive construction. The first time I played a very first solo role, the role of Basilio in Don Quixote, I thought I was going to die... I told myself that I would never succeed, and gradually it was built. As in any profession, you have training, and then you are given a little more responsibilities and you have to take them on. With experience, you learn to manage, you learn how to do things.

FT: The extreme competition, the tensions inherent to the level of excellence that you practice, the pressure of physical performance… Everything seems to be slipping away from you. What is your secret?

PM: So much the better if it seems to be slipping! I have been very stressed by nature since I was little. For as long as I can remember, I have never stopped biting my nails... I have worked a lot on my anxiety, because my very first role as a semi-soloist had ulcers, patches of eczema, a lump in the stomach, without sleeping the night before... It takes work and it also comes with experience: the fact of dancing, a lot, of rehearsing roles, of being used to this lifestyle, these are things that we get used to it. Never 100%, but despite everything, there are things like stress that you can completely leave aside to keep a little bit of adrenaline, to enjoy, to have fun.

FT: Do you sometimes manage to let go of control?

PM: Yes, of course, there are things that must be controlled and things that must be left to chance.

FT: We are at the heart of the We Are French Touch event. We talk about artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Are these worlds familiar to you? Have you, for example, checked what ChatGPT says about you?

PM: No not at all ! In fact, I find it great to evolve with the times, to always be able to improve, to discover new things, while keeping in mind that it cannot replace everything.

FT: Are dance and live performance soluble in virtual reality in your opinion? Or would they lose all meaning?

PM: All their senses, I don't know, a lot of them for sure. Live performance, for me, can never be replaced by “live” or like artists who are replaced by artificial intelligence. The principle of a live performance is to go see artists, to explore their world. And if it's not done human to human, it's different. It's the difference between going to the theater and seeing a movie. I'm not saying that one is better than the other, they are two different things.

FT: Do you “feel” the audience on stage?

PM: We, without the public, we do not live and the public, without us, cannot go to the show. It really is a connection. And this connection, if it is not made in real life, palpably, it does not happen or it happens differently.

FT: What is this little delta that does everything?

PM: A movie you can pause; a ballet, you don't put it on pause. People come, and they really get ready to watch this story. They buy their tickets consciously, they prepare to go to the theater, they go to a place for this experience. Again, this is very different than watching a film on a streaming platform at home. By definition, a live performance is alive and it is face-to-face.

FT: In the three years that you have been in the light, do you feel the need to speak out?

PM: I do it when I want to or when it matters to me. I rarely do it for the sake of “doing it.” Today, we have plenty of tools that allow this. For example, there are a number of astronomical clichés about dance anchored in the collective unconscious, but which are gradually disappearing. And this happens without necessarily saying words, by showing rehearsals on Instagram, doing “lives” on Facebook, going on “Tiktok”. My speaking is quite silent, for my voice in any case, because I don't speak much, I do a job where we don't speak by definition. So most of the time, when I express myself, it's through movement.

FT: What is your memory of a play or show that you gave and which is part of true contemporaneity?

PM: There are plenty of great classical ballets, but one that comes to mind is Mayerling. A period ballet telling the story of Prince Rodolphe, from the beginning of his life until his suicide. Except that it's a ballet, so of course, with period sets, period dresses, costumes, music... But it's a role where I found myself on stage drinking, taking drugs , trying to kill my father, raping women, being sick with STDs, my body completely ravaged… I find that it's something that is quite modern, even if it was written a long time ago. Modernity can be found wherever you want.

FT: You represent the next generation for many young people who come to see your ballets, and you even embody a generation. Among the major social debates, which ones animate you?

PM: So to put it very crudely, my mission as a dancer is a mission of entertainment. People come to the show to relax, to escape, to be told a story. And I love it. Because today, if we were really in a world without culture, if we removed culture, all the culture and beauty from the world, I think the situation would be much worse. From the moment we keep a little culture, we keep a little beauty and humanity, it's so important. Otherwise we would all hit each other and it would go back to being a jungle and the law of the strongest.

FT: In the current quiet period, do you feel you have a role to play?

PM: Yes and no, perhaps a role in this large chain, to preserve a little dream, preserve a little beauty and allow people to escape. It's still minimal, but I think if everyone did it, even just a little bit, we would be much better off. It may be very idealistic, but I firmly believe in it.