"NO questions?" Stephane Lissner, the general director of the Paris Opera, asked the 200 or so journalists assembled on Wednesday for the announcement of the Opera's 2016-17 season. There was the briefest pause. "Well, thank you," he said, leaving the podium immediately with the music director, Philippe Jordan, and the director of dance, Benjamin Millepied.

If Mr Lissner had not specified that remarks be limited to those about the new season, there would certainly have been a flurry of questions for Mr Millepied, who announced last Thursday that he would leave his job at the end of the current season. The news reverberated around the dance world and made the front pages of France's major daily newspapers, Le Monde and Le Figaro. Although Mr Millepied said he was leaving to focus on his choreography, avid speculation continued about his real motivation.

Why exactly did he quit?