Hugo Marchand began dancing at the age of 9 at the Conservatoire de Nantes, where he was taught by Marie-Élisabeth Demaille, a former dancer with Les Ballets du Rhin. He continued his studies at the collège Victor Hugo in Nantes, where he took part in a special timetable, and won a gold medal at the Nantes Conservatoire at the age of 13.
He entered the Paris Opera Ballet School in Nanterre in 2007 and joined the corps de ballet in 2011. He was promoted to Coryphée in 2013. Promoted to Sujet in November 2014, he performed his first major roles in Rudolf Nureyev's The Nutcracker and Kenneth MacMillan's L'Histoire de Manon. He was promoted to Premier Danseur in November 2015, then danced the role of Solor in La Bayadère in December 2015 and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in March 2016. Next come Obéron in Balanchine's A Midsummer Night's Dream in March 2017 and James in Pierre Lacotte's La Sylphide in March and July 2017.
In addition to classical ballets, Hugo Marchand is also making a name for himself in the contemporary repertoire: Wayne McGregor's L'Anatomie de la sensation, Benjamin Millepied's Clear Loud Bright Forward and La Nuit s'achève, William Forsythe's Blake Work I and Herman Shmerman, Jiří Kylián's Symphony of Psalms and Tar and Feathers. Finally, in addition to Robbins' Goldberg Variations, he is regularly cast in Balanchine: Theme and Variations, Duo Concertant, La Valse and Violin Concerto.
On March 3, 2017, following a performance of La Sylphide during the troupe's tour of Tokyo, he was named danseur étoile by Aurélie Dupont, director of dance.
In 2022, he founded the non-profit association Hugo Marchand pour la danse, with the aim of promoting classical dance in French heritage sites to a wide audience: "I'm keen to contribute to the diversity of local cultural life, throughout the country, and to highlight the historic monuments of our regions by associating them with renowned dancers and musicians". By 2023, he will be taking over the courtyards and gardens of the Château du Champ-de-Bataille and the Château de Digoine (Palinges).
In 2022 Carolyn Carlson created a solo for him, Sunlight under Water.