Positioning Ballet 2023

Ted Brandsen was a dancer at Dutch National Ballet from 1981 to 1991. After his dance career he focused more on choreography and created several pieces for various international dance companies and festivals. As artistic director of West Australian Ballet, he created a great many ballets, including Carmen (2000, Australian Dance Award) and Pulcinella (2001).

Brandsen returned to Dutch National Ballet in 2002 and became artistic director of the company in 2003. Since then, he has created a plethora of works such as Body (2004), Raï (2011), Classical Symphony (2020) and the full-length productions Coppelia (2008) and Mata Hari (2016). He is also a much sought-after judge for various leading dance competitions.

In October 2019, Brandsen was awarded with the Amsterdam Prize for Art, in the category ‘Proven Quality’, and in June 2022 he was appointed Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion.

Assis Carreiro is a cultural entrepreneur working in international performing arts, with a specialisation in dance. She has represented creatives from around the globe and has been a mentor and strategic consultant to arts and cultural organisations. Current and recent clients include Finnish National Ballet’s conference for Artistic Directors and DanceEast’s Rural Retreats. She was a consultant for AEM International, Australia Council and CAPACOA. She is a Trustee of Rambert School of Ballet and Dance and Australia’s Project Animo.

Carreiro served as Artistic Director at Royal Ballet Flanders, Artistic Director of UK’s Dance- Xchange and Artistic Director and Executive Director of DanceEast (UK) and held senior cultural positions at the High Commission of Canada and the Quebec Delegation in London. She was a programmer at DasTAT (Ballet Frankfurt) and Head of Education, Outreach & Publications with The National Ballet of Canada.

Carreiro was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours for her services to dance and holds an Honorary Doctorate in Civil Law from the University of East Anglia.

Peggy Olislaegers (trained at Fontys Dance Academy) is a leading artistic and strategic adviser to choreographers and performing arts institutes in Europe. She made her name during her directorship of the Dutch Dance Days (2010-2016), when she was also co-initiator of the innovative European projects Act Your Age, Pivot Dance and Performing Gender. From 2015 to 2019, she was Artistic Associate with Rambert, the touring contemporary dance company of Great Britain. Olislaegers worked intensively with Ted Brandsen on the first and second edition of Positioning Ballet. In 2019 the company appointed her Associate on Research and Development.

Olislaegers is known for her wide knowledge of and sensitivity to new developments in the performing arts, and advises directors from the worlds of hiphop, modern dance and ballet. Among others she works with Nanine Linning (Germany), Joseph Toonga (United Kingdom), Alida Dors (Netherlands) and Omar Rajeh (Lebanon).

Christina Barandun, a systemic organizational consultant, leadership and communication coach, has been supporting cultural institutions and artistic ensembles since 2013.

She studied theater in Gießen (Germany), is a trained classical ballet teacher (RAD), taught Aikido until Corona. She grew up in Japan, Bahrain, Luxembourg, France.

Her daily work is guided by the question: how can we be a healthy, vibrant, sustainable cultural sector that supports everyone in their individual, creative needs and contributes in a meaningful way to society? She is the author of the book First Aid for the Artist’s Soul. Stress management, communication and conflict resolution in the cultural sector.

Nina Ananiashvili was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. While she was a Prima Ballerina at the Bolshoi Ballet, she also became a principal dancer with ABT and danced with The Royal Ballet, La Scala Ballet, and the Metropolitan Opera, among others. She won first prizes at international ballet competitions.

In 2004, Ananiashvili took on the responsibilities of Artistic Director of the State Ballet of Georgia. She is a People’s Artist of Georgia and a recipient of the Georgian Orders of Honor and Excellence, the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity, and the Japanese government's Order of the Rising Sun. She was named as the Honorary President of Europa Nostra Georgia.

Christopher Anderson began his tenure as Alberta Ballet’s Artistic Director in July 2022, after serving as Ballet Master, Associate Artistic Director, and Artistic Director Designate under Jean Grand-Maître. Before joining Alberta Ballet, Anderson danced with Boston Ballet and Ballet West.

Founded in 1958 by Muriel Taylor and Ruth Carse, Alberta Ballet is a cornerstone arts institution in Alberta, Canada. The company has an international roster of twenty-seven dancers who perform classical, neo-classical, and contemporary works in both Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta.

Since joining the organization in 2015, Anderson has added twenty-two works to the repertoire, including seven of his own.

Dirk Badenhorst is currently the Director of Mzansi Ballet – a uniquely multi-genre ballet and dance company, the founding CEO of the South African International Ballet Competition and the Director of the Training Teachers in the Townships programme in South Africa. This year the South African International Ballet Competition is hosting its 10th edition of the South African International Ballet Competition.

Badenhorst has been on the jury of ballet competitions in Cuba, USA, China (Beijing and Shanghai), South Korea, Russia and South Africa. He has arranged tours and productions in South Africa, Spain, Cuba, China, South Korea, Russia and more and hosted International Ballet Galas all over South Africa. Most recently the staging of Ballet in the Bush, to raise funds and awareness for rhino conservation in South Africa. Mzansi Ballet will be staging the world premiere of their ballet The Gold Rhino of Mapungubwe on 26 April 2023.

Filip Barankiewicz has been the Artistic Director of the Czech National Ballet since 2017, making sure the company’s repertoire is very demanding and incorporates the most important productions (created by the most renowned choreographers) from the global ballet heritage, as well as various world premieres.

Barankiewicz started his dance career with the Stuttgart Ballet in 1996, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2002. He worked with the company for over 18 seasons, first as a principal dancer and later on as a guest ballet master and coach. From 2003, he was a permanent guest principal at the Czech National Ballet. After ending his dance career, Barankiewicz gained fame as a ballet master and coach and staged and coached John Cranko’s full-length ballets with numerous companies all over the world.

Rachel Beaujean joined Dutch National Ballet as a dancer in 1977 and was promoted to soloist in 1981. After twenty years, she said goodbye to the stage, after which she was appointed ballet mistress with Dutch National Ballet. In 2003, Beaujean became head of the artistic staff, and she has been associate artistic director of the company since 2017. In the same year, at the celebration of her fortieth anniversary with the company, she was made an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

In recent years, Beaujean has made various adaptations of major nineteenth-century productions for Dutch National Ballet, including a new production of Les Sylphides, a new interpretation of Giselle (together with Ricardo Bustamante) and new productions of Paquita and Raymonda (2022). She is also an assistant to Hans van Manen, and coordinates and organises the teaching of Van Manen’s works to international companies, some of which she teaches herself.

Tara Birtwhistle is a highly accomplished and celebrated leader in dance. As a graduate of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Birtwhistle joined the RWB Company in 1991, dancing as a principal dancer on stages around the world, her career spanning over 20 years. During that time, she received the Golden Jubilee Medal and the Diamond Jubilee Medal from her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth in recognition for her stage career and her contribution to dance in Canada.

Upon retiring from the stage Birtwhistle has been an integral part of the artistic team at the RWB. As Ballet Master for 11 years, she oversaw RWB productions at home and abroad, assisting highly acclaimed choreographers in their creative processes.

In 2018 Birtwhistle took on the leadership role of Associate Artistic Director.

Robert Bondara is a Polish choreographer, director, teacher and was for many years a dancer with the Polish National Ballet.

In 2018, was appointed Ballet Director of the Poznan Opera Ballet in Poland. He created nearly 40 works for ballet companies in Poland and abroad and his choreographies have been presented around the globe on international dance festivals.

He received numerous prizes for his performances including Brown Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis.

Federico Bonelli (Genoa, Italy) danced at Ballett Zürich before joining Dutch National Ballet in 1999, where he was promoted to principal dancer in 2002. In 2003, he joined The Royal Ballet as a principal, dancing leading roles in all classical full-length ballets, as well as roles in works by leading contemporary choreographers.

In 2019, Bonelli graduated from the Clore Leadership Programme. In recent years, he curated the programme for The Royal Ballet activities in Doncaster for the Doncaster Creates festival and has coached the repertory of The Royal Ballet. Bonelli also co-facilitates The Royal Ballet’s Inclusivity Focus Group and is a member of the company’s external Steering Group of Chance to Dance, as well as a non-executive director and member of the Board of Parents and Carers in Performing Arts (PiPA).

Since May 2022, Bonelli is Artistic Director of Northern Ballet.

Bridget Breiner received dance training at the BalletMet Dance Academy and the Heinz- Bosl-Stiftung Munich. She was a member of the Bavarian State Ballet, a principal dancer at Stuttgart Ballet, dancing many of the great classical and dramatic leading roles, and at the Semperoper Ballett Dresden.

Since her choreographic debut in 2005 Breiner has choreographed for the Stuttgart Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Latvian National Ballet, Kevin O'Day Ballet Mannheim, Ballett Augsburg, Ballett im Revier and Staatsballett Karlsruhe. She served as artistic director of the Ballett im Revier Gelsenkirchen from 2012-2019 and is currently the artistic director and principal choreographer of the Staatsballett Karlsruhe.

Breiner is a two-time winner of Germany’s Der Faust award for choreography.

David Hallberg is the Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet and the author of a memoir, A Body of Work: Dancing to the Edge and Back, which was published in November 2017.

David has danced with ballet companies around the world including American Ballet Theatre, The Bolshoi Theatre, Mariinsky Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet and La Scala Milan to name a few. He was a Principal Guest Artist with The Royal Ballet Covent Garden.

Christopher Hampson joined Scottish Ballet as Artistic Director in 2012, and was appointed CEO/Artistic Director in 2015. Since he joined Scottish Ballet, the company has performed on the world's greatest stages and commissioned new work from some of the most sought-after dance creators. Hampson has also established a Dancer’s Education Group to help dancers receive structured training in community engagement and teaching while pursuing their stage careers. Hampson was a dancer at English National Ballet (ENB) and already started choreographing during his dance career. He created award-winning works such as Double Concerto, Perpetuum Mobile and The Nutcracker for ENB. His Romeo and Juliet, created for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Production and his Cinderella was hailed as Best New Production by the New Zealand Herald.

Hampson is co-founder of the International Ballet Masterclasses in Prague and has been a guest teacher for many major international companies.

Nikolaj Hübbe studied at the Royal Danish Theatre Ballet School. He joined the Royal Danish Ballet in 1984 and was appointed principal dancer in 1988. In 1992, he became principal dancer at New York City Ballet.

In 2008, Hübbe had his farewell performance with New York City Ballet and joined the Royal Danish Ballet as Artistic Director.

With great respect for the original Bournonville ballets, Hübbe has created new productions of classics such as La Sylphide, Napoli and A Folk Tale for the Royal Danish Ballet.

Other stagings include: Giselle, The Nutcracker, La Bayadère, Twelfth Night, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Weimar, Raymonda and August 2.0.

Declared by The New York Times as ‘America’s quintessential American ballerina’, Susan Jaffe led a renowned career as principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre, and as an international guest artist for 22 years.

In 2012, Jaffe was appointed Dean of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC – a position she held for eight years. Then in 2020, she became the Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

In December of 2022, Jaffe has taken the helm as Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre.

Aivars Leimanis has been the Artistic Director of the Latvian National Ballet Company since 1993. He was a ballet soloist of the Latvian National Ballet from 1976 until 1996 where his repertoire included leading roles in classical ballets.

At the Latvian National Ballet he has choreographed and staged many ballets and received several awards for his outstanding choreography. As a dancer and choreographer Aivars Leimanis has represented Latvian art in more than 40 countries.

Leimanis is the Chairman of the Jury at the International Baltic ballet Competition, Member of Jury in several ballet competitions worldwide.

Linnar Looris is an international guest ballet teacher, coach, guest speaker and Artistic Director of Estonian National Ballet (since 2019).

In his dancing career he was a dancer with the Houston Ballet (USA), Birmingham Royal Ballet (UK) and Estonian National Ballet (Estonia). Looris has received international acclaim for his dancing and leadership skills.

The past four years Looris has enriched the repertoire of Estonian National Ballet with many world premieres and classical ballet masterpieces, brought up new generation of young dancers and lead the company to successful international tours.

After many years as a principal dancer with the Norwegian National Ballet, Ingrid Lorentzen was appointed Artistic Director in 2012. The Financial Times wrote - ‘In a demonstration of notable creativity, Ingrid Lorentzen has programmed five world premieres for her debut programme’. Lorentzen appointed Alan Lucien Øyen and Jo Strømgren as house choreographers, and from 2019 Marit Moum Aune is house director as part of a major investment in female choreographers. In 2015, she launched a new company for young dancers, NNB2, with the aim of securing and taking care of the greatest Norwegian and international talents under the Opera's roof.

Dance Europe named Lorentzen ‘Director of the Year’ both in 2015 and 2022, she has held several positions in the Norwegian Culture Council, in 2019 she was appointed as the new head of the jury for the International Ibsen Prize and also sits as chair for the Van Cleef and Arpels FEDORA dance prize.

British-Swiss choreographer/Director, Cathy Marston trained at the Royal Ballet School, before launching an international dance career now spanning over twenty-five years.

Associate Artist of the Royal Opera House (2001-2006) and Director of Bern Ballett, Switzerland (2007-2013), she has been commissioned from international companies like The Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, ABT, Danish Royal Ballet and Ballet Black creating works such as The Cellist, Mrs Robinson, Snowblind, The Suit, Jane Eyre and Of Mice and Men.

Marston won the South Bank Sky Arts Award, the UK National Dance Award twice and has been short-listed for the Olivier Awards.

Marston will become Director of Ballett Zürich from August 2023.

Ernst Meisner was a dancer with The Royal Ballet (2000-2010) and Dutch National Ballet (2010-2013). He already started choreographing during his career as a dancer and created several works for The Royal Ballet’s choreographic workshop and, later, for Dutch National Ballet.

Meisner has been the artistic coordinator of Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company since its foundation in 2013. Since 2018, he is also the artistic director of the Dutch National Ballet Academy.

In recent years, Dutch National Ballet has presented Meisner’s Axiom of Choice (2014), Merge (2016), In Transit (2017), Impermanence (2018) and Prometheus (2020/2021), as well as various works for the Junior Company. Together with Marco Gerris from ISH Dance Collective, he has also created the hiphop-meets-ballet productions Narnia (2015), GRIMM (2018) and Dorian (to premiere in May 2023), in which the Junior Company dancers share the stage with dancers from ISH.

Since August 2020, Emily Molnar has been the Artistic Director of Nederlands Dans Theater, where her vision is to move the company into a new era of creativity. As an internationally respected dance artist, choreographer, and leader, she has worked and toured extensively throughout the world.

A graduate of Canada's National Ballet School, Molnar is a former member of the National Ballet of Canada, Ballet BC and Ballett Frankfurt under director William Forsythe. From 2009-2020, she served as the Artistic Director of Ballet BC and for five years was the Artistic Director of Dance at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

In 2016, Molnar was named a Member of the Order of Canada, one of Canada's highest civilian honours, for her contribution to advancing dance in Canada.

Hope Muir was appointed the Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada in January 2022.

Former Artistic Director of Charlotte Ballet and Assistant Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet, Hope has had an international career spanning two continents. A founding member and graduate of London Festival Ballet School, she is an acclaimed teacher, coach and artist having danced with English National Ballet, Rambert Dance Company and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Muir assisted Crystal Pite with the creation of Emergence for the National Ballet and has since assisted numerous choreographers in this capacity, staging work by Christopher Bruce, Helen Pickett and Javier De Frutos among others.

Kevin O’Hare is Director of The Royal Ballet. He retired from dancing in 2000 to work with the RSC, training in company management. He returned to Birmingham Royal Ballet as Company Manager in 2001 and joined The Royal Ballet as Company Manager in 2004. He was appointed Administrative Director in 2009 and Director in July 2012. Since then, collaboration has been at the heart of the Company’s work.

A continuous commitment to making the artform available to as many people as possible around the world has been demonstrated through touring, digital, cinema and community outreach programming.

Artistic Director of National Ballet of Portugal (Companhia Nacional de Bailado) – Carlos Prado trained at the Contemporary Dance Academy. Graduating in 1984, he was hired by CNB, where he remained as a soloist until 1990. He also carried out extensive studies in Benesh Notation, receiving his degree with ‘High Honors’ in London, from the Benesh Institute.

In 1990, he was invited to join Ballet Gulbenkian, as principal dancer. He was invited by various companies and choreographers as a teacher and as a choreographic assistant.

In 2006 Prado was invited by Mauro Bigonzetti to join the Aterballetto as a Ballet Master and choreographic assistant, where he remained until 2012. From 2013 to 2016 was Ballet Master for the Royal Ballet of Flanders. In 2021, he was appointed Artistic Director of CNB.

Éric Quilleré started his professional dance career at Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris, under the direction of Rudolf Nureyev. He was promoted to Coryphée in 1986, to Sujet in 1988 and to Premier Danseur in 1991. Quilleré danced many roles from both the classical and the neoclassical and contemporary repertoire and worked with various leading choreographers. From 1995, after spending six months as a ‘Danseur Etoile’ at Ballet de Nancy, Quilleré divided his time between Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris and Miami City Ballet.

Already during his career as a dancer, he started to create new productions of full-length classical ballets for Miami City Ballet. In 2002, he was appointed Artistic Advisor of the Miami City Ballet School and in 2003, he joined the ballet company of the Opéra National de Bordeaux as a ballet master. In 2017, Quilleré was appointed Director of Dance at the Opéra National de Bordeaux.

Nicolas le Riche was a star dancer at Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris for many years, becoming an ‘Etoile’ in 1993. He danced leading roles from the classical, neoclassical and contemporary repertoires and gave guest performance on renowned stages all over the world. His achievements as a dancer have been awarded with various prizes, including the Prix Benois de la Danse and the Nijinsky Dance Prize. He was also appointed Chevalier l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur, Officer de l’Ordre de Arts et des Lettres and Officer de l’Ordre National de Meite.

Le Riche ended his prestigious dance career in 2014. Since August 2017 he is Artistic Director of the Royal Swedish Ballet. He was also a jury member at the Prix de Lausanne in 2021, as well as a Classical Coach at the competition.

Tamara Rojo was appointed Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet in January 2022. Prior to SFB, she served as Artistic Director and Lead Principal Ballerina of London’s English National Ballet, implementing groundbreaking programming and successfully completing a £ 50-million capital campaign to create a new company headquarters in 2019.

During Rojo’s 30-year career, she performed for all the major companies including The Royal Ballet. Raised in Madrid, Rojo received a bachelor’s degree in Dance/Choreography (Real Conservatorio de Danza Mariemma), and a Master’s in Theatrical Arts and Doctorate from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid.

Martin Schläpfer, director and chief choreographer of the Vienna State Ballet since 2020/21, is one of the outstanding dance makers of his generation. His œuvre of around 80 works ranges from full-length ballets to concentrated miniatures.

Trained at the Royal Ballet School London, he progressed to become a charismatic star dancer in Spoerli’s Basel Ballet. As a ballet director he succeeded in building up three distinctive ensembles with the Bern Ballet, ballettmainz and Ballett am Rhein. In 2022 the magazine Tanz named the Vienna State Ballet ‘Highlight of the season’.

Schläpfer has been awarded many important prizes – including the Prix Benois, Taglioni – European Ballet Award, Swiss Dance Prize, Der Faust, Music Prize Duisburg and Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Since 2007, Adam Sklute has expanded Ballet West’s repertoire and visibility with powerful Company and world premieres, increased touring, and greater focus on the Ballet West Academy. His stewardship of Ballet West has been marked by both financial growth and elevated artistry, which was the focus of CW Network’s docudrama Breaking Point for two seasons.

An internationally sought-after teacher and adjudicator, Sklute has received numerous awards, including the Bronze Minuteman Award for Outstanding Service to Utah and The Nation and recognized as one of Deseret Magazine’s 25 Changemakers of the West for his efforts building greater equity in classical ballet.

Christian Spuck began his dance career with Jan Lauwers’ Needcompany and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s ensemble Rosas. In 1995 he became a member of the Stuttgart Ballet and served as the company’s resident choreographer from 2001 to 2012.

In Stuttgart he created fifteen world premieres. The world premiere of Poppea// Poppea for Gauthier Dance was awarded the German Theatre Prize Der Faust in 2011 as well as the Italian Danza/Danza Award.

Since the 2012/13 season, Spuck has been director of Ballett Zürich. For Winterreise, he was awarded with the Prix Benois de la Danse. 2019, he staged Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern by Helmut Lachenmann, which was awarded Production of the Year and Ballett Zürich Company of the Year by German magazine Tanz.

Spuck has been appointed Artistic Director of Staatsballett Berlin as of the 2023/24 season.

Burcu Sürmeli Borovali (Ankara, Turkey) joined Izmir State Opera and Ballet as a soloist in 1996 and was promoted to principal two years later. In 2005 she spend five months with Ballet Internationale in Indianapolis and in 2006 she joined Istanbul State Opera and Ballet as a principal dancer. Sürmeli Borovali performed roles in a large number of classical ballets and was awarded with various prizes, including the Star Dancers Award from the Izmir State Conservatory (2000) and the Special Award from the Izmir Art Committee (2000).

From 2009, Sürmeli Borovali has been working as a ballet teacher, repetitor and ballet master at various theatres in Turkey. She was ballet master/head teacher at Istanbul State Opera and Ballet from 2016 until 2017. After holding the same position at Izmir State Opera and Ballet from 2019 until 2022, Sürmeli Borovali was appointed Artistic Director of Türkiye Ballet - Izmir in 2022.

Javier Torres López completed his studies as a classical dancer in 1984, and in 1988 he graduated as a dance teacher of the Cuban method both from the National School of Ballet in Mexico City.

In 1991 he joined the Finnish National Ballet, where he performed as soloist until 2008. Javier Torres has created more than 35 choreographic works including full-length classical ballets.

Based on his 25 years research to improve ballet pedagogy, he leads seminars and gives lectures at international dance symposiums, professional ballet companies and schools.

He has more than 25 years of experience as freelance teacher and coach.

In August 2022 Javier Torres was appointed as the Artistic Director of the Finnish National Ballet.

Debbie Turner is the CEO & Artistic Director of Cape Town City Ballet, South Africa. She has been in the position for just over 4 years. The company is on a journey of redevelopment, modernisation & growth with a strong focus on the expansion of the classical, neo-classical & contemporary classical repertoire.

The company celebrates its 90th year of existence in 2024.

Medhi Walerski, French choreographer and Artistic Director of Ballet BC, has been creating works since 2006. Walerski danced at the Paris Opera Ballet and the Ballet du Rhin before joining Nederlands Dans Theater in 2001. For over a decade, he was an integral part of the company, contributing to NDT's creative and innovative style.

Walerski was awarded the Dutch dance prize VSCD Zwaan in 2013, and has created works for Nederlands Dans Theater 1 & 2, Ballet BC, Goteborg Ballet, Bern Ballett, and the Ballet State of Georgia, amongst others. Dance companies around the world perform his choreographies.

Xinpeng Wang has been Artistic Director of Ballett Dortmund since 2003. He was born in Dalian, China, and received his dance education at the local art college, after which he studied choreography at Peking Dance Academy and modern dance at Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen.

Since 1996 he has been working as a freelance choreographer worldwide. From 2001 to 2003 he was Ballet Director of the Staatstheater Meiningen. For Ballett Dortmund he created more than 50 productions, most of them full-length story ballets.

In 2014 he founded the NRW Junior Ballet and set focus on next generation of dancers.

Studying dance at the National Ballet School of Canada, Aaron S. Watkin has danced in renowned companies such as the National Ballet of Canada, the English National Ballet and Dutch National Ballet. He became principal dancer at the Ballet Frankfurt, where he continued working as choreographic assistant to William Forsythe.

Since 2006, Watkin has been Ballet Director of the Semperoper Ballett. He has been able to attract numerous renowned choreographers, most notably William Forsythe, to work with his company.

His own choreographies include Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère, The Nutcracker and Don Quixote.

In season 2023/2024, Watkin will become Artistic Director of English National Ballet.

Casey is responsible for the marketing of various opera and ballet productions of Dutch National Opera & Ballet.

Cynthia creates and produces content for Dutch National Opera & Ballet’s social media channels, among others.

Mumtaz is personal assistant to Ted Brandsen, director of Dutch National Ballet.

Michiel is responsible for generating media exposure for Dutch National Ballet and for managing the company’s press relations.