Isabelle Guérin

Isabelle Guérin (Rambouillet, France) trained at the Conservatoire de Paris and the renowned École de Danse of the Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris, joining the prestigious Parisian company at the age of seventeen. While still in the corps de ballet, she was given the opportunity by Rudolf Nureyev – then the company’s artistic director – to dance her first leading role: Kitri in Nureyev’s Don Quixote. In 1985, following her performance in Vladimir Bourmeister’s Swan Lake, Nureyev promoted her to danseuse étoile (principal dancer).

Guérin has performed numerous leading roles, both in full-length classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet and La Bayadère, and in contemporary works by choreographers including Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp and William Forsythe. Since ending her dance career in 2001, she has staged ballets by, among others, Rudolf Nureyev and Jerome Robbins for companies around the world. Guérin has received several major awards, including a Benois de la Danse (1993) and an Isadora Duncan Dance Award (2019). In 2011, she was named a Chevalier of the French Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur.

Last update: 10-06-2025