Two Major Partnerships Bridging Culture and Youth Transmission
Through its partnerships with Hugo Marchand pour la Danse and the Association pour le Rayonnement de l’Opéra de Paris (AROP), the AXA Foundation for Human Progress is committed to making culture accessible to as many people as possible.
We support projects that remove geographical, social and economic barriers to the arts. By backing ambitious and inclusive initiatives, we foster encounters between outstanding works and audiences often far removed from them, therefore promoting equal opportunity, personal fulfillment, and social cohesion.
Using Dance to Spread Culture Across France
In collaboration with Hugo Marchand pour la Danse, we support the ambitious cultural decentralization project “Les Etoiles au Château” which brings exceptional performances by seven principal dancers from the Opéra de Paris to historic châteaux. These venues are transformed into artistic settings for a weekend, with single tickets at just €13.
Last year, 7,800 people attended; in 2026, three weekends are planned, including at Chambord. By making dance a bridge for creating connections, inspiring wonder, educating, and fostering collective experience - and sometimes even healing-, this initiative aligns with our goal to support artistic risk-taking and cultural innovation in the service of social, educational and economic issues.
Opera as a Tool for Empowerment and Equal Opportunity
Through the “Dix Mois d’École et d’Opéra” (DMEO) program, developed in collaboration with the education authorities of Paris and Versailles, we promote the arts among younger generations. Each year, 1,000 students from priority education zones - and, since 2022, from the Centre-Val de Loire, Normandie and Corsica regions- follow a two-year, tailor-made pathway, from preschool to the final year of high school.
This program combines artistic workshops, meetings with professionals, access to performances, guided visits and an introduction to opera-related careers. Through this partnership, we reaffirm our shared values such as art as a means of social cohesion and transmission.