William Forsythe joining Paris Opera Ballet as associate choreographer

William Forsythe has been named associate choreographer of the Paris Opera Ballet, the company announced Wednesday when unveiling its upcoming season. The 2015-16 roster of ballet offerings will focus on George Balanchine, and the operatic lineup will feature appearances by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Plácido Domingo.

Forsythe is to present a world-premiere work that will close the ballet’s 2015-16 season. Last year, the renowned American choreographer was named a professor at USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.

The new school is scheduled to enroll its first undergraduate students starting this fall.

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In his new role in Paris, Forsythe is expected to work closely with Benjamin Millepied, the former New York City Ballet principal who recently assumed the position of dance director of the renowned French company. Millepied has programmed Forsythe’s works in his role as founder and director of L.A. Dance Project.

Last year, Forsythe announced that he will step down as the head of his namesake dance company founded in 2005 in Germany.

The Paris Opera’s new season is the first presented by its new director, Stéphane Lissner. The lineup includes Domingo in “La Traviata” and Salonen conducting a double bill of “Bluebeard’s Castle” and “La Voix Humaine.”

For the ballet, the season is to feature works by Balanchine as well as pieces by Jerome Robbins. Millepied is set to present a new work with music by Nico Muhly, and there is to be a program dedicated to composer-conductor Pierre Boulez, with a new work choreographed by Wayne McGregor that is set to Boulez’s “Anthèmes II.”

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT