Silvia Saint-Martin
Principal Dancer
of the Paris Opera Ballet
Silvia Saint-Martin, a French-Spanish dancer, began dancing at the age of 9 in the south of France. She joined the Paris Opera Ballet School in 2002.
In her final year at the school, she danced the role of Sleeping Beauty in the ballet “Les Forains” by Roland Petit. She joined the ballet corps in 2008, was promoted to Coryphée in 2011, and won the Carpeaux Circle Prize the same year.
In the ballet corps, Silvia explored many great classical ballets. She danced in ballets by Rudolf Nureyev as well as works by Jérôme Robbins, Serge Lifar, Roland Petit, and John Cranko. Promoted to Sujet in 2012, she faced a long break due to injury. Upon her return, she performed her first soloist roles, including various pas de deux and pas de trois from the repertoire. She also danced the “Rubies” couple in “Jewels” by George Balanchine and the title role in “Cinderella” by Rudolf Nureyev.
She was chosen to dance the role of Lorraine in “Bella Figura” by Jirí Kylián and the ballet “Speak for Yourself” by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot. Silvia participated in numerous creations and repertoire entries and had the pleasure of working with renowned choreographers such as Crystal Pite, Sol León, Paul Lightfoot, Jirí Kylián, Alexander Ekman, William Forsythe, Wayne McGregor, Ohad Naharin, and Sasha Waltz…
Promoted to Principal Dancer in 2020, Silvia continues to explore the stage as a soloist. She performs various roles in ballets by George Balanchine: Sanguine in “The Four Temperaments,” the Russian dancer in “Serenade,” Hippolyta and Hermia in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Embraceable You” and “My One and Only” in “Who Cares?” as well as the second woman in “Ballet Imperial.” She also performed the role of Cupid in “Don Quixote” by Rudolf Nureyev and recently Princess Stéphanie in the ballet “Mayerling” by Kenneth MacMillan.
Throughout her career, she has participated in tours with the Paris Opera and enjoyed discovering new stages through numerous projects. Very soon at the Opéra Garnier, she will debut as Lescaut’s Mistress in the ballet “Manon” by Kenneth MacMillan.
