Elizabeth Greisman
Visual Artist in residence at the Paris Opera Ballet

Elizabeth Greisman, Canadian visual artist from Toronto, has returned to be artist-in-residence at the Paris Opera Ballet in June, 2026. She is continuing to capture the movement of the dancers in drawing and painting at the Paris Opera Bastille, all made possible through their most thoughtful and generous hospitality.

Elizabeth is creating visuals this June and July that concentrate specifically on the current production of La Bayadere, Rudolph Nureyev’s masterpiece at the Paris Opera Bastille theatre. Her paintings will complement those created in her previous residency in October , 2025 of Giselle and Racines. The three ballets will create a synthesis of movement for her upcoming exhibition in Toronto.

The Paris Opera Ballet, the cradle of classical dance, has maintained a tradition of excellence for more than three centuries, built on the preservation of its repertoire and openness to new creations. The Paris Opera Ballet is directed by José Martinez, Director of Dance since December 2022. Each season they produce a masterful repertoire.

Excerpt from Elizabeth Greisman’s residency report:

“I was very fortunate to watch and create sketches in pencil and watercolour during the soloist’s rehearsal of La Bayadere, as well as watch and sketch during the rehearsal of the corps du ballet.

Notating the movement of many, while watching the corps du ballet rehearsal, added another dynamic to line and form on paper and canvas . I referenced the movement of the principal dancers in tandem, the pas de deux, and en mass.

The magnificently coloured costumes ,and the beautiful sets of La Bayadere, create a spellbinding atmosphere to interpret visually in paint and in line.

I am challenged in this ballet to reference the incredible virtuosity of the dancers in their leaps and turns and rhythmic choreography into the visual format of the painted line and form.

It is my hope that my paintings and drawings will embolden a visual sensitivity to the many faceted story of La Bayadere.

The experience of sketching the dancers of The Paris Opera Ballet will inspire me to create paintings in oil paint in my studio in Toronto. I plan to capture the experience of seeing the many layered, diaphanous forms of the figure in motion. For my exhibition at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto in January 2027, I will work both in banner format and in a series of paintings suggesting the sequence of the movement.”

More information : elizabethgreisman.ca