Dominique Khalfouni

Dominique Khalfouni is a French ballet dancer born in 1951 who built a distinguished career across European and American stages before transitioning to teaching. She began her formal training at the Paris Opera Ballet School at age nine, entered the company's corps de ballet at sixteen, and rose to the rank of étoile in 1976. Outside of dance, her other vocational interests lay in music, specifically as a violinist or pianist.

During her years with the Paris Opera Ballet, Khalfouni performed leading roles in numerous classical works and originated roles choreographed expressly for her. These included parts in Kenneth MacMillan's Métaboles, Oscar Araiz's Adagietto, Maurice Béjart's Serait-ce la Mort, and Roland Petit's Le Fantome de l'Opéra.

In 1980, Khalfouni departed Paris to join the Ballet National de Marseille, and that same year she appeared on Broadway in Coppelia. The following year she danced Giselle at the Metropolitan Opera House alongside Mikhail Baryshnikov, performing with the American Ballet Theatre at his personal invitation.

Her association with choreographer Roland Petit continued in Marseille, where he created La Pavlova for her in 1986. Following its premiere at Barcelona's Liceu, international critics described her as the greatest French dancer of her time and applied the designation ballerina assoluta to her work in the role. That year also brought her the Ordre national du Mérite in 1987, and she later received the Prix Benois de la Danse in 1995.

By the end of the 1990s, Khalfouni had shifted her focus to teaching and settled in Paris. Her two children, Mathieu Ganio and Marine Ganio, both pursued professional careers as dancers with the Paris Opera Ballet.