In 2007, Awa Joannais became a student at the Paris Opera Ballet School. She then entered the Paris Opera Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2014.

It is reported that Joannais was the “first woman of African descent to join [the company].”

Her repertoire with the company includes Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, La Source, and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s Drumming Live.

In 2020, Joannais was one of five Black Paris Opera Ballet dancers who co-created a document that sought to “liberate racial discrimination from the silence that surrounds it in opera.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Awa Joannais, Paris Opera Ballet
Awa Joannais, Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet Has Decided
Berlin State Ballet settles with dancer over racism allegations, DW

See also:

The Paris Opéra’s Diversity Report Proposes Steps Towards a More Inclusive Company, Pointe Magazine
Un manifeste pour supprimer la discrimination raciale à l’Opéra de Paris, Le Monde

Video links:

Opera in Paris by Little Shao

Social media:

Instagram @awajn