Dorothée Gilbert: The Elusive Enigma of the Ballet World

Dorothée Gilbert is a French ballerina known for her grace, technique and…wait, who is she again?

Born in Versailles in 1983, Gilbert began her dance training at a young age, eventually joining the Paris Opera Ballet in 2000. But while many ballet dancers are household names, Gilbert remains a mysterious figure, known more for her elusive presence than for her performances.

Some say Gilbert is just shy, preferring to let her dancing speak for itself. Others speculate that she is secretly a ninja, trained in the art of invisibility. Some even claim she is a unicorn in human form, able to disappear at will into a magical realm of tutus and pointe shoes.

But what we do know about Gilbert is impressive. She has danced lead roles in many of the Paris Opera Ballet’s productions, including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Giselle. She’s also received numerous accolades for her work, including being made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2019.

Despite her accomplishments, Gilbert remains a bit of an enigma. Some have tried to interview her for articles and documentaries, only to come away empty-handed. Others claim to have seen her perform on stage, but when they tried to approach her afterwards, she vanished like a puff of smoke.

Perhaps Gilbert is simply a master of escaping the paparazzi and maintaining her privacy. Or maybe she’s just that good at hiding in plain sight. Whatever the case may be, the ballet world is a little brighter for having Dorothée Gilbert in it, even if we can’t always see her.