Students from the Santiago Municipal School receive scholarships from the Paris Opera – 2024-07-09 14:42:03 – 2024-07-09 14:44:15

A year and a half ago, the Teatro Municipal de Santiago became the first institution in the world to sign an agreement with the Paris Opera to train the teachers of its Ballet School in the classical dance method and, thus, become a center of its teaching in Latin America. Thanks to this, Chilean teachers have traveled to France to train and French teachers have visited Chile on three occasions, giving classes to teachers and students.

Now, the historic agreement has reached a new milestone. In January, a letter from the Paris Opera Dance School touched the parents of four students from the Ballet School of the Municipal Theatre of Santiago with a unique invitation: to participate free of charge in the summer course that is given in the French capital in July and that brings together 300 dancers from 33 countries. The first scholarship that this prestigious French school gives to students from other institutions around the world.

“It has been a great source of pride for us, as it represents an opportunity that goes beyond what is established in the agreement and that will directly touch the lives of young aspiring Chileans, who will have access to a unique opportunity for professional development, as well as a showcase to show their talent,” says Carmen Gloria Larenas, director of the Teatro Municipal de Santiago.

“This is great news for the country, which I hope we all celebrate, because it speaks to the level of the dancers at our Ballet School, which was possible to detect and now enhance thanks to the virtuoso joint work of two allied institutions,” adds César Morales, director of the Santiago Ballet.

Paris Opera Scholarship Recipients

Although they are all young people of exceptional talent, the dancers of the Santiago Municipal Ballet School who received scholarships from the Paris Opera have different professional careers. Originally from Santiago, Paz Cartes has been part of the Ballet School since she was 5 years old. Today, at 14 years old, she is also a student with academic excellence at the National Institute.

Meanwhile, Matías Lyon (19) from Valdivia developed as an urban dancer until, thanks to the support of his teacher at Uniacc, he auditioned for the Ballet School, where he entered at the age of majority in an exceptional manner.

For his part, Santiago native Evan Tapia (16) has been in dance and theater academies since he was 7 years old, even participating in the musical Billy Elliot. Later, he entered the Ballet School. For her part, Emilia Rodríguez – 14 years old with a Venezuelan mother and a French father – began her ballet studies at the age of 3 and entered the Ballet School at the age of 10, in a journey that she has made visible as an influencer.

Classes began on July 1 and will run until July 13.