Technical Supervisor and Lighting Designer
Born in Marseille in 1961. He started in October 1978 at the Marseille Opera House, under the direction of Jacques Karpo. He took part in creation of numerous productions cooperating with renowned theatre designers.
In 1984, Roland Petit invited him to work together at the Ballet National de Marseille. That was the beginning of a long collaboration with the French choreographer. In 1988 he worked at Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord on a new show for Zizi Jeanmaire, which was followed by a big tour in France and Europe. In 1996 at the Teatro alla Scala of Milano he created the lighting design for “Chéri” created by Roland Petit for Carla Fracci. Later that same year at the Opera Bastille he works on the new lighting for the ballet “Notre Dame de Paris” by Roland Petit. This staging was later on performed in April 1998 at the Teatro alla Scala and in November 1998 at the New National Theater of Tokyo.
His collaboration with Roland Petit took him to work for La Scala in Milan, the Rome Opera, the San Carlo Theater in Naples, the Liceu in Barcelona, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Champs Elysées Theater, the Palais Garnier and the Bastille Opera in Paris, Bunkamura, NHK Hall and New Theater Tokyo National, Peking Opera, Seoul Opera, Colon Theater in Buenos Aires, the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg and the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre.
In 1998, when the choreographer left the Ballet National de Marseille, Jean-Michel continued to work with him on his new creations and the re-staging of his works until his death on July 10, 2011.
Working on the following ballets: Carmen, L’Arlésienne, Proust Remembered, Duke Ellington Ballet, Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, La Chauve Souris, Notre Dame de Paris, Pink-Floyd Ballet, Roland Petit raconte les chemins de la creation, Coppélia, Soirée Roland Petit, Le Rendez-Vous, Le Loup, Erik Satie Ballet, etc…
He took part in other projects of Roland Petit:
- “Zizi 2000” a new show for Zizi Jeanmaire at Amphithéâtre de l’Opéra Bastille (2000),
- “Délit d'ivresse” a dancing show on songs written and sung by his daughter Valentine Petit and composed by the famous accordionist Richard Galliano, at the Auditorium of St Germain des Près in the heart of Paris (2002).
He also worked on the lighting for ballets by Serge Lifar (Suite en Blanc), George Balanchine (Serenade), Jiri Kilian (Nuages), Richard Wherlock (Strange Waltzes), Nikita Dimitrievsky (La solitudine del vento), Eric Quilleré (Giselle) Nicolas Le Riche (Itinérance, Para-ll-eles, Sur la grève, B Comme…), Giuliano Peparini (The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet), Dinna Bjorn (La Sylphide) and Derek Deane (La Bayadère, La Dame aux Camelias) and other.
Nowadays Jean-Michel Désiré continues re-staging Roland Petit’s works in Europe, Japan, United States, South America, Russia, Korea, China.
Teamed up with the choreographer’s associates he revives Roland Petit’s heritage in the most prestigious theaters in the world.