Bartabas' project in Versailles

Bartabas, a French horse trainer, created the equestrian performing show ‘Zingaro’ thirty years ago. This changed horse shows from being purely technical demonstrations to being equestrian artistic displays. The addition of music and inspiration from the dancing and acting worlds has helped Bartabas create a new form of expression. The Versailles Academy of Equestrian Arts was created with the aim to impart these talents and to offer horse-riders a multi-disciplinary training to help them become fully-fledged artists. Today, the Academy is faced with many challenges. There are specific problems related to the management of a troupe, heightened by the presence of horses. Above all, the Academy’s ballet corps and the other choreographers must be completely inspired by the artist. The greatest difficulty is hand-crafting a model which an artist can hand down to other people.