Press
When Dance Gives Wings to Fragile Children
Courrier Picard, a regional French daily, covers the moving scenes at Necker Hospital, where Paris Opera dancers perform for children in intensive care, helping them forget their daily struggles, even if just for a moment.
Close to the stars: when dance gives wings to vulnerable children
In a resuscitation room from which the beep of the monitor escapes, an unusual image: an intubated boy watches intensely as two stars of the Paris Opera in shimmering costumes sketch out dance steps in front of him.
“We’re going for a walk, an arabesque, and then, a fish lift,” explains dancer Hugo Marchand, performing these steps with his partner Dorothée Gilbert. “We just came to say hello and give you a kiss,” the child responds with a little wave.
In another room of the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital (AP-HP), a baby watches, wide-eyed, as Dorothée Gilbert’s costume flutters to the rhythm of a pirouette.