The Ballett Zürich is the largest professional ballet company in Switzerland. Based at the Zurich Opera House, the ensemble of 36 dancers not only performs a significant part of the opera house’s schedule but is also celebrated on international tours.
Since the beginning of the 2023/24 season, the British-Swiss choreographer Cathy Marston has been the new director of Ballett Zürich. The highlights of her first two seasons as ballet director were the world premieres of her ballet “Atonement,” based on the novel of the same name by Ian McEwan, and the ballet “Clara,” about the great pianist and composer Clara Schumann. In addition, Ballett Zürich danced new works by Kim Brandstrup, Bryan Arias, Meryl Tankard, and Mthuthuzeli November as well as the legendary choreography “Les Noces” by Bronislawa Nijinska. Works by Jerome Robbins and Kenneth MacMillan also entered the repertoire. In the 2025/26 season, Cathy Marston will present her new ballet “Romeo and Juliet” to the music of Sergei Prokofiev.
Choreographers such as Wayne McGregor, Marco Goecke, Marcos Morau, Crystal Pite, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Hans van Manen, and Mats Ek are regularly featured in the program with their works.
The present-day ensemble emerged from the former ballet of the Zurich Municipal Theater. Already in the 1920s, performances with dancers took place here. A first milestone was the 1935 world premiere of the ballet “The Devil in the Village” by Pia and Pino Mlaka. A company that danced the classics and engaged with tradition, however, only took shape after World War II. In 1956 Jaroslav Berger was responsible for Zurich’s first performance of “Swan Lake.” Since the 1960s, the company has been shaped by its directors Nicholas Beriozoff (1964–1971), Patricia Neary (1978–1985), Uwe Scholz (1985–1991), Bernd Bienert (1991–1996), and Heinz Spoerli (1996–2012).
From 2012 to 2023, Ballett Zürich was led by the German choreographer Christian Spuck. He explored new paths for the full-length narrative ballet and also devoted himself to cross-genre forms of expression, for example in a production of the “Verdi Requiem,” realized as a co-production of the Zurich Opera and Ballett Zürich. Spuck’s ballet “Winterreise” was awarded the prestigious “Prix Benois de la Danse.” His production of Helmut Lachenmann’s “Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern” (“The Little Match Girl”) was named “Production of the Year” in 2020 by the magazine “tanz.” At the same time, Ballett Zürich was honored as “Company of the Year.” In 2016, the reconstruction of the original 1895 “Swan Lake” choreography by Petipa/Ivanov by Alexei Ratmansky attracted wide international attention.
The Junior Ballet was founded in 2001. Fourteen young dancers from all over the world train here together with members of Ballett Zürich, perform with them in selected repertoire productions, and present themselves regularly in programs created especially for them. Great resonance was achieved in 2025 with the three-part evening “The Butterfly Effect,” created in collaboration with climate scientists from ETH Zurich.
Since 2012, the series “Young Choreographers” has taken place every two years, focusing on the promotion of choreographic talent. It is now continued under the new name Next Generation.
The performances of Ballett Zürich are accompanied by a comprehensive supporting program with the ballet talk series “Zurich Talks Dance,” introduction matinees before premieres, introductory lectures before performances, and a wide range of special projects for children, young people, and schools.
