Sweatshirt Paris Ballerina Strike

On December 24, 2019, ballerinas from the Paris Opera Palais Garnier performed an excerpt from the world-famous piece Swan Lake - free of charge and outdoors. The action was the brilliant climax of their protest against the planned pension cuts in the public sector. Public sector employees across the country had already been on strike against the government's plans since December 5, and the dancers at the Opéra Garnier had also joined the protests. The existing pension system, which was introduced in the 16th century and recognizes the toll that hard work takes on the dancers' bodies, allows retirement at 42. Macron's government now wanted to increase the retirement age for all employees to 64 across the board. Héloïse Jocqueviel, one of the striking ballerinas, told the press:

“We start classical dance at the age of 8. At the age of 42, we already suffer from arthritis, stress fractures, hernias and in some cases we have titanium hips. It is difficult to maintain an excellent level until 42, but 64 seems impossible.”

Another ballerina, Shanti Mouget, told how the workers decided together to hold this extraordinary protest:

“After three weeks of strike, we wanted to show the other workers that we are all together in this fight.”

The idea was to attract as much attention as possible without running the risk of the government making their action illegal. Occasional strikes by the ballerinas continued into spring 2020 and cost the opera millions of euros in lost ticket sales. In the end, the government gave in and withdrew its plans.

The design from December 2022 was created by the Italian tattoo artist Fede Borgia. It shows one of the striking ballerinas in a Swan Lake costume. In the background are the Eiffel Tower and the Paris Opera. The saying "Dance Hard ... Strike Harder!" means something like "Dance hard ... strike harder!" in German. The shirt is a great homage to the brave dancers and, above all, to their collective success in preventing the antisocial pension cuts.

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Brand: Stanley & Stella

Material: 100 percent organic cotton

Printing & Finishing: High quality skin and ecofriendly direct-to-garment prints

Care: Important care instructions are available at the bottom of our website.