France’s ministry of health has acknowledged that it is impossible for the dancers to perform until their 60s. But under the government proposal, members of the company (or at least those hired under the new legislation) would have to find alternative employment when they could no longer dance, and would receive pensions at the same age as everyone else in France.

When The New York Times sought comment from the company on the issue, the Paris Opera’s director, Stéphane Lissner, declined to comment, and the director of dance, Aurélie Dupont, was on vacation.

Matthieu Botto, 32, a dancer in the company, said government officials had shown “that they know nothing about our way of functioning.”

On Monday, Franck Riester, France’s culture minister, tried to sell a compromise to the dancers. He restated an offer made in December that would allow current company members to retain their existing privileges; the new rules would apply only to new hires.

“In order not to penalize those who didn’t foresee this change in the social contract, the idea is that we’ll only count those who are hired after Jan. 1, 2022,” Mr. Riester said on LCI, a French news channel.

The first time they refused that offer, the striking dancers said in a statement, “We are a small link in a chain stretching back 350 years,” adding, “we cannot be the generation who sacrifices those who follow.”