We strive to welcome and offer tickets to audiences who are far removed from cultural opportunities, because we believe that dance is a precious tool to reconnect with oneself, open up to others, feel wonder, and breathe more freely. Each season of “Étoiles au Château” is therefore an opportunity for us to meet a diverse audience through moments of exchange with the artists. Since the creation of the association, we have invited several hundred people to discover the performance and ask questions about dance and dancers. This season, we aim to offer at least 200 tickets per weekend at La Bourbansais and Chambord, and up to 1,000 tickets for the weekend at the Château de Crussol.

These post-performance discussions with people from child welfare associations, hospitals, and individuals with disabilities are organized in each region. These interactive sessions address the dancer’s profession, the relationship to the body, and respect for others. We believe it is essential to introduce our profession, talk about our passion, and engage with those who have never had the opportunity to attend a dance performance. Dancing is also about learning to connect with others… and sometimes it simply starts by holding hands together.

Since 2024, another collaboration has been developing with the Dijon Academy and SAPAD 71 / TED-i (educational support at home, in hospital or at school) as well as BEAM (robotic solution). This joint service of the PEP and the French Ministry of Education enables children and adolescents facing illness or accidents to maintain a connection with school, both in terms of learning and the essential aspect of social interaction. Staying connected to the world and having access to culture and moments of escape are vital. Thanks to this telepresence system (robot installed on site), several children have been able to participate in real time in performances held at the Château de Digoine and at the Domaine National de Chambord.

Convinced that the practice of dance can be a true therapy for both body and mind, we are delighted to offer, for the first time this year, ballet initiation classes alongside Alexandra Cardinale. These 1-hour masterclasses aim to introduce participants to the vocabulary and richness of classical dance, starting with learning the different positions at the barre, while also allowing energy to flow through the body in order to release, express oneself, and take pleasure in movement.

These masterclasses are open to everyone from ages 5 to 85, whether or not they have prior dance experience, alone, with family, or accompanied. Through simple, progressive, and supportive exercises, participants explore the body through music, posture work, grounding, and the upward impulse toward lightness. The goal is to transmit, share, and open classical dance to all bodies and all backgrounds.

This is also an opportunity for participants to discover the codes of classical dance—saut de chat, arabesque, battement, and adage—and to understand the daily life of classical dancers: training, alignment, musicality, discipline, and above all… the joy of dancing, with the desire to make dance shine everywhere and for everyone. These masterclasses are also offered as a priority to the partner associations with which Hugo Marchand pour la Danse works and collaborates.