Newsday - Meet the first black lead dancer for the Paris Opera - BBC Sounds

At 23, Guillaume Diop has become the first black 'danseur étoile' or principal dancer at the Paris Opera. He is the son of an African immigrant from Senegal.

His appointment last month came two years after Mr Diop, along with the four other black dancers of the company, accused the Paris Opera of failing to do enough to tackle racism in the wake of worldwide protests following the murder of George Floyd by police in the United States.

BBC Newsday spoke to him about his success.

"Ballet... takes a lot of work and dedication and determination too. My parents weren't dancers... so I feel they were a bit scared for me. They... discovered the ballet world through me. Ballet is really hard; it takes a lot of work."