1945 – Les Ballet des Champs Élysées established

Les Ballet des Champs Élysées was an experimental company that performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées from 1945 until 1950. It was the brainchild of the director Roger Eudes, who was impressed by the dancer and choreographer Roland Petit and his fight and flight into new balletic pastures. Petit was working with a host of young and vibrant dancers, and he choreographed new and innovative works for them. The response was magnetic, and the company quickly became well known both in Paris and on their many international tours. Petit moved on in 1947 and the company closed in 1950, after five years of great works and great dancing, a legacy of work and dancers that stood French ballet in good stead.