History

At the beginning of the 1960s, the international star dancer Rosella Hightower settled in Cannes, surrounded by her family. Her project was ambitious: to welcome dance enthusiasts of all cultures and nationalities and to train them professionally. Near the famous Croisette, the Rosella Hightower International Dance Centre opened its doors at the beginning of the 1961 school year with the collaboration of former dancers from the Marquis De Cuevas Ballets. Within a few years, the school became a unique training centre in the world.  The students followed a normal schooling while receiving daily choreographic instruction; these were the first classes with special timetables. Rosella Hightower, always attentive to the evolution of dance, introduced modernity and multidisciplinarity into her school.

Cannes consolidated its status as a holiday resort for a large number of dance personalities. Anton Dolin, Serge Lifar, Rudolph Nureyev and Maurice Bejart came to the "Centre" to train, rehearse and teach. The summer workshops allow dancers from all over the world to come and train in Cannes with the greatest teachers.

At the beginning of 2001, Rosella Hightower left the direction of her school in favour of Monique Loudières, whom she had appointed as Etoile in 1982, when she was directing the Paris Opera Ballet. Paola Cantalupo agreed to take over the direction of the school at the beginning of 2009, continuing the pedagogical project of its founder.