Gilbert’s show goes on at Paris Opera

Parisians suffering because of the week-long transport workers' strike against President Sarkozy's pension reforms finally have a happy story to share. After technicians at the Paris Opera downed tools to support the strike, and with half the 2,700 audience at the Bastille auditorium staying away because of transport difficulties, it looked as though dancer Dorothee Gilbert's first night as Clara in The Nutcracker on Monday was going to prove a damp squib. However, the 23-year-old dancer from Toulouse refused to be intimidated by having to perform on a naked stage with poor lighting, with the corps de ballet dressed in casual costumes - and put on a display that had the audience in raptures. As result, Paris Opera director Gerard Mortier immediately elevated Dorothee from the rank of soloist to etoile, of which there are only 17 at the 155-strong company.

Gilbert, who emerged from the corps de ballet in 2002, had already made an impression on Paris ballet lovers with her elegance and precision. The Figaro critic said of a recent performance in La Fille Mal Gardee: "With her flirtatious grace and expressive force, she is the marvelous incarnation of the unwatched girl."

Ironically, as a member of the Paris Opera, Gilbert is entitled to even more lavish pension rights than those of the striking transport workers, who can retire at 50. Under contracts first created by Louis XIV in the late 17th century, dancers of the Opera ballet can retire, after a minimum of ten years in service, from the age of 40, and must do so by 42. "No other ballet company in the world offers such conditions," Gilbert said recently. "That way, we can concentrate all our energy and attention on the profession." It is not yet clear whether Sarko, who is insisting the transport workers to accept retirement at 60, will make an exception for ballet dancers. ·