Guillaume Diop
Étoile, Paris Opera Ballet
Guillaume Diop is an Étoile dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet.
Born in Paris (France) in 2000, he took his first dance steps at the age of 4 before entering the Conservatoire of the 18th district of Paris at the age of 8, then the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional of Paris at the age of 10. He joined the prestigious Paris Opera Dance School in 2012, where he studied for 6 years. During his training, he also had the opportunity to be part of a summer internship at the Alvin Ailey Dance Company in New York City in 2016.
In 2018, Guillaume Diop joined the Paris Opera Ballet, where he quickly rose through the hierarchy. Spotted very early for his technical and artistic qualities that are typical of the “French style”, he was entrusted, despite his young age, with some of the greatest roles in the company's classical repertoire such as Roméo (in Romeo & Juliet), Basilio (in Don Quixote), Solor (in La Bayadère) or Prince Siegfried (in Swan Lake) following injuries of soloists whom he successfully replaced at short notice.
A young man of convictions and well determined to evolve his discipline towards greater openness, Guillaume Diop co-wrote in 2020 a manifesto that opened a conversation on the lack of diversity, inclusion, and representation at the Paris Opera and echoed worldwide.
His successful performances on stage did not go unnoticed among the ballet afficionados: in 2021, he was awarded the prestigious Carpeaux Dance Prize and Arop Dance Prize, the two awards that are annually given by the main friends and patrons circles of the Paris Opera to the most promising young artists of the company.
On March 11, 2023, on the stage of the LG Arts Center in Seoul, while performing the role of Albrecht in Giselle during a company tour in Korea, he was appointed to the ultimate rank of Étoile Dancer at only 23.
Acclaimed by the audience and drawing the attention of the media both in France and worldwide, Guillaume Diop has become one the most prominent public figure in the country and his reputation is reaching far beyond the very niche ballet world. In 2024, The New York Times nicknamed him “The Modern Prince”, and the Financial Times referred to him as “Ballet's New Idol”.
He earned several distinctions such as GQ France Men of the Year (2023) or ADAMI’s Artist of the year (2023) and was included in Forbes Africa (2023) and Forbes France (2024) 30 under 30 rankings. In 2024, he had the honor of being part of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, dancing on the roofs of Paris.
With the ambition of developing a global experience aside from his career at the Paris Opera, Guillaume Diop made his first international guesting with the Joburg Ballet (South Africa) in June 2024 performing in the Sleeping Beauty. In October 2024, he was a guest artist with the Royal Swedish Ballet and participated in the world creation of Gustavia, dancing the main part of Gustav Badin.
In 2025, Guillaume will perform at the Paris Opéra in the ballets Sleeping Beauty (by Rudolf Nureyev), Sylvia (by Manuel Legris) and Onegin (by John Cranko).
