Vienna - The Vienna State Opera announced Thursday that French star dancer Manuel Legris was chosen to direct its ballet from 2010. Legris, 44, will take over from the current ballet chief, the Hungarian Gyula Harangozo, at the same time that Dominique Meyer leaves the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris to head Austria's leading opera house.
Legris will retire as leading dancer at the Paris National Opera in 2010. In the course of his career, he worked with choreographers such as William Forsythe, John Neumeier and Maurice Bejart.
He and Meyer would seek to give the opera's corps de ballet a more international outlook, Legris told Austrian press agency APA. "We want to push the dancers, not only to have a good troupe, but also to raise their international reputation," he said.
