Éric Vu-An

Born in Paris on 3 January 1964, Vu-An's father was Guadeloupean and his mother was Vietnamese.^[2] He enrolled in the École de Danse in 1974 after his recruitment by Claude Bessy and an age exemption from the Ministry of Labour [fr].

In 1982, he began his first soloist roles at the Paris Opera Ballet. He was cast as the lead in a production of Don Quixote by Rudolf Nureyev in 1983 before Maurice Béjart gave him the lead in Boléro.^[3] A dispute arose in March 1986 between Béjard and Nureyev over the announcement of Vu-An and Manuel Legris as a danseur étoile. The dispute was settled in Nureyev's favor, with Legris becoming a danseur étoile.^[4]

Vu-An then left the Paris Opera and joined the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, where he served as head of ballet from 1995 to 1997. On 1 January 2005, he was named a ballet master associated with the leader of the Ballet National de Marseille, Frédéric Flamand.

In 2009, Vu-An became artistic director of ballet at the Opéra de Nice. In 2018, a post made on Mediapart accused him of "managing his troupe with a feeling of omnipotence" and that he harassed pregnant dancers.^[5] One of the dancers, Gaëla Pujol, filed a complaint against him for harassment.^[6] Pujol alleged that the behavior was recurring and that she could provide testimony from fellow dancers and victims.^[7] However, Vu-An denounced the allegations.^[8] On 24 April 2018, it was announced that officials in Nice would investigate the claims.^[9] However, Vu-An was not indicted for his action due to lack of evidence, and the presiding judge dismissed the case on 11 July 2022.^[10] An investigating chamber in Aix-en-Provence upheld the dismissal on 30 March 2023.^[11]

Vu-An was diagnosed with a brain tumour in early 2022.^[12] He died in Nice on 8 June 2024, at the age of 60, two weeks after his husband, Hugues Gall, died.^[13]

• The Sheltering Sky (1990)
• Bitter Sugar [fr] (1998)

• Patron sur mesure [fr] (2002)
• Les Liaisons dangereuses (2003)