The rumble reaches the backstage of the Paris Opera. While the stagehands have already engaged in a standoff with management regarding the rights of intermittent workers, the ballet dancers have made it known that they will join the strike movement. According to information from France Musique, a strike notice has been filed for the performances on December 23, 25 and 31.
At the end of last week, two first evenings of The Nutcracker were canceled, following a stagehands’ strike. At the beginning of November, two performances of Turandot and Cinderella did not see the light of day due to the blockage of show workers who demanded a renegotiation of their rights. Now, and for the second time since June, the corps de ballet dancers have announced that they will not take the stage.
The demands have not changed in six months. “A dancer has preparation time: makeup, dressing, undressing… Currently, a dancer spends about 42 hours a month preparing. However, the package allocated for this preparation time is equivalent to only 6 hours,” explains Matthieu Botto to France Musique. The dancers are therefore asking for “regularization of the package linked to this preparation time”, specifies the coryphée of the corps de ballet, CGT union delegate.
The strike notice was filed in reaction to the measures taken by the management of the Opera in recent months, measures deemed insufficient by the corps de ballet. “Our demand was not really followed by general management,” believes Matthieu Botto. She preferred to propose a reorganization of the dancer’s day, with more rehearsals, finishing one earlier in the day. But that was not at all what ballet originally wanted.”
“Our goal is not to strike: we do not want to lose money either to the Opera or to the employees, nor do we want the spectator to be unhappy. We wanted a preventive consultation which did not take place and, unfortunately, at the Opera as in other structures, this always involves the balance of power,” further testifies the 35-year-old dancer.
The Opera stagehands, who had filed a new strike notice for this week, were heard: they obtained recognition of the carrying of heavy loads and an increase in wages.
A meeting was held on Monday, December 11 with general management. If the latter should return to the dancers with a letter soon, Matthieu Botto did not seem very optimistic: “What happened this morning does not lend itself to enthusiasm at all…”, he testified in leaving the meeting on Monday.
