Anthem of the Opera

As the Junior Ballet of Paris’ foremost dance institution makes its Asian debut with the support of Chanel, director José Martinez returns to the beginnings of his improbable ascent and lays out his vision for a more resonant future for the art form

There is a moment in almost every dancer’s life when the body reveals itself before the mind has caught up: spine tilting without instruction, shoulders stirring to a piano note suspended in the air, fingertips lifting as if drawn by an invisible thread. For José Martinez, that first spark unfolded in a far less romantic setting when he was nine: a children’s Christmas costume party in coastal Spain. Conscripted by his mother merely to help his sister into her outfit, the lanky lad had no intention of joining in — he barely understood what ballet was — yet the school’s dance teacher noticed the natural ease with which he whirled among the children and sensed, instantly, an innate musicality. Perhaps, she thought, it was worth seeing what this gifted one could do in a class.