Patrick Armand
French ballet dancer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Patrick Armand is a French retired ballet dancer, and the director of the San Francisco Ballet School[1] from 2017 to 2023.[2]
Patrick Armand | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marseille, France |
| Education | Ecole de Danse de Marseille |
| Occupations | Ballet dancer and director |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Known for |
|
| Awards | Prix de Lausanne (1980) |
Early life
Armand was born in Marseille, France, where he studied at the Ecole de Danse de Marseille.[3][4] In 1980, he won the Prix de Lausanne.[3][4]
In 1981, he joined the Ballet Théâtre Français, rising to principal dancer in 1983. The same year, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier award for his performance of Maurice Bejart's Songs of a Wayfarer, which he performed with Rudolf Nureyev. From 1984 to 1990, he was with English National Ballet as a principal dancer, and then joined Boston Ballet.[3][4]
Armand has been a jury member of the Prix de Lausanne on several occasions since 1998. He served as ballet master and also as a faculty member at Teatro alla Scala in Milan until 2010. It was at this point that he took over as the Principal of the San Francisco Ballet School Trainee program.[5]
From 2012 to 2017, Armand was associate director of the San Francisco Ballet School, when he succeeded Lola de Avila,[3][6] becoming director in 2017.[7]