diversity advances step by step

ARTE – MONDAY DECEMBER 23 AT 11:05 P.M. – DOCUMENTARY

So much emotion! When, on March 11, 2023, at the LG Arts Center in Seoul, Guillaume Diop, 23, was named star dancer of the Paris National Opera by José Martinez, dance director, his coronation was greeted by crazy reactions in the whole world. Not only does this young performer create a surprise by skipping a rank in the troupe's hierarchy, but he becomes the symbol of diversity at the heart of the Parisian institution.

In this documentary directed by Virginie Plaut and Youcef Khemane, the questions asked to Guillaume Diop during an interview with Ines de La Cuetara, from the ABC News channel, demonstrate the extent of the debate and its virulence. “Do you think there is something inherently racist about classical dance?, asks the American journalist. What do you say to those who say you were appointed because of affirmative action? »

Guillaume Diop, like double bassist Sulivan Loiseau, born in Martinique and in residence at the Académie de l'Opéra, assume their role and responsibility in a direct and spontaneous tone that resembles them. “The fact that I, today, am named a principal dancer represents something, underlines Diop. As a mixed-race person, I am aware of the role that I have and will have… The fact that I am here changes the situation for many children. I receive lots of messages. I'm proud to represent this, but it also scares me because it's impressive. I just turned 23 and already I need to know myself. »

Cooperation in Guyana

Filmed in 2022 and 2023, Being black at the Opera traces the trajectory of these two artists in their work context. Between the meetings of directors and managers working on the diversity file, the rehearsals, their moments of relaxation with friends or family, their daily lives and their questions are intertwined.

Sulivan Loiseau confides that she would like to give concerts in Martinique and classes for the youngest. “Sometimes I wonder where the place of the culture and origin of my parents is in the practice that I doshe asks herself. Whether if I didn't play classical music but music from Martinique, I would feel more at home, I don't know. »

The evolution of thinking on the subject at the Paris National Opera has gone through crucial stages. In 2020, after the George Floyd affair and the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, Guillaume Diop and his friends Letizia Galloni, Jack Gasztowtt, Awa Joannais and Isaac Lopes Gomes wrote the manifesto From the racial question to the Paris Operawhich will be signed by 400 colleagues. Subsequently, in 2021, the institution presents a report on diversity at the Paris National Opera which provides the results of research on the key works on display, but also interviews conducted with employees.

At the same time, the cultural cooperation project “Opera in Guyana”, led by Myriam Mazouzi, director of the Paris Opera Academy, which highlights the detection of talents in dance and singing, is part of this desire to open the house wide. Listening to Guillaume Diop – invited in 2023 to perform on the Plateau de l’Encre, one of the rooms of the public cultural cooperation establishment of Trois Fleuves, in Cayenne – talking to children about his journey is simply a joy.