Paul Rivard

La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin, France

Originally from La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin, France, Paul Rivard began his ballet training at the Paris Opera Ballet School, where he performed in company productions including Paquita, La Bayadère, and The Nutcracker. After three and a half years in Paris, he continued his training at VM Ballet in Toulouse, where he gained national recognition as a finalist on Season 7 of Prodiges, a French television program showcasing young classical artists. Paul later joined the San Francisco Ballet School under the direction of Patrick Armand. During his time in San Francisco, he performed alongside the company in productions including Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella, Giselle, and Romeo and Juliet, as well as Myles Thatcher’s After Light and Jason Ambrose’s The Most Peaceful Place.

In 2023, Paul joined the Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet as a Trainee and later became a member of the Joffrey Studio Company. Under the mentorship of Suzanne Lopez and Ogulcan Borova, he worked with choreographers including Christopher Wheeldon, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Cathy Marston, and Yuri Possokhov. During his time with Joffrey, Paul performed alongside the company, dancing in productions including The Nutcracker, Alice in Wonderland, Atonement, Carmen, and Anna Karenina. He also performed in Winning Works, dancing in original works by Alejandro Pérez, Houston Thomas, Roderick George, Keelan Whitmore, Julia Feldman, Fran Díaz, DaYoung Jung, Daniel Ojeda and Karley Childress. In 2025, Paul was named one of 45 ambassadors of his home region, Loiret, in recognition of his contribution to promoting French culture abroad.

In 2026, Paul was awarded a Luminarts Cultural Foundation Fellowship in recognition of his artistic work and contributions in Chicago. The 2026 season marks Paul’s first season with the company, and he is excited to continue growing as an artist, embrace new challenges, and further develop his artistry throughout the season.

State Street Ballet is grateful to Cheryl Goldberg for being the Artist Champion in honor of Paul Rivard.