Christian Spuck stammt aus Marburg und wurde an der John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart ausgebildet. Seine tänzerische Laufbahn begann er in Jan Lauwers’ Needcompany und Anne Teresa de Keersmaekers Ensemble «Rosas». 1995 wurde er Mitglied des Stuttgarter Balletts und war von 2001 bis 2012 Hauschoreograf der Compagnie. In Stuttgart kreierte er fünfzehn Uraufführungen, darunter die Handlungsballette Lulu. Eine Monstretragödie nach Frank Wedekind, Der Sandmann und Das Fräulein von S. nach E.T.A. Hoffmann. Darüber hinaus hat Christian Spuck mit zahlreichen namhaften Ballettcompagnien in Europa und den USA gearbeitet. Für das Königliche Ballett Flandern entstand 2006 The Return of Ulysses, beim Norwegischen Nationalballett Oslo wurde Woyzeck nach Georg Büchner uraufgeführt. Das Ballett Die Kinder beim Aalto Ballett Essen wurde für den «Prix Benois de la Danse» nominiert, das ebenfalls in Essen uraufgeführte Ballett Leonce und Lena nach Georg Büchner wurde von den Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, dem Charlotte Ballet, USA, dem Tschechischen Nationalballett Prag und vom Stuttgarter Ballett übernommen. Die Uraufführung von Poppea//Poppea für Gauthier Dance am Theaterhaus Stuttgart wurde 2010 von der Zeitschrift «Dance Europe» zu den zehn erfolgreichsten Tanzproduktionen weltweit gewählt sowie mit dem deutschen Theaterpreis Der Faust 2011 und dem italienischen «Danza/Danza-Award» ausgezeichnet. Christian Spuck hat auch Opern inszeniert: Auf Glucks Orphée et Euridice an der Staatsoper Stuttgart folgten Verdis Falstaff am Staatstheater Wiesbaden sowie Berlioz’ La Damnation de Faust und Wagners Fliegender Holländer an der Deutschen Oper Berlin. Von 2012 bis 2023 war Christian Spuck Direktor des Balletts Zürich. Hier waren seine Choreografien Romeo und Julia, Leonce und Lena, Woyzeck, Der Sandmann, Messa da Requiem, Nussknacker und Mausekönig, Dornröschen und Monteverdi zu sehen. Das 2014 in Zürich uraufgeführte Ballett Anna Karenina nach Lew Tolstoi wurde in Oslo, am Moskauer Stanislawski-Theater, vom Koreanischen Nationalballett und vom Bayerischen Staatsballett ins Repertoire übernommen. 2018 hatte in Zürich Spucks Ballett Winterreise Premiere, für das er mit dem «Prix Benois de la Danse 2019» ausgezeichnet wurde. 2019 folgte beim Ballett Zürich Helmut Lachenmanns Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern (Auszeichnung als «Produktion des Jahres und Kompanie des Jahres für das Ballett Zürich durch die Zeitschrift tanz). Für das Moskauer Bolschoitheater kreierte er 2021 sein Ballett Orlando nach Virginia Woolf. Spucks Messa da Requiem wurde nicht nur zum Adelaide Festival nach Australien eingeladen, sondern auch vom Het Nationale Oper & Ballet Amsterdam und vom Finnischen Nationalballett übernommen. Seit Beginn der Saison 2023/24 ist Christian Spuck Intendant des Staatsballetts Berlin.

Pavel Baleff ist Chefdirigent der Philharmonie Baden-Baden. Engagements als Opern- und Konzertdirigent führten ihn u.a. an das Zürcher Opernhaus, die Dresdner Semperoper, das Leipziger Gewandhaus, die Hamburgische Staatsoper, das Bolschoi Theater Moskau, die Oper Montpellier, zum Dänischen Nationalorchester, zum Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg sowie zu den Rundfunksinfonieorchestern des WDR und des BR. Er leitete Aufführungen, Fernsehaufzeichnungen und CD-Produktionen mit international renommierten Solisten wie Krassimira Stoyanova, Diana Damrau, Edita Gruberova und Vesselina Kasarova, Ramón Vargas, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anna Netrebko, Thomas Hampson, Piotr Beczala und Luca Pisaroni. Seine CD-Produktionen mit der Sopranistin Krassimira Stoyanova und dem Münchner Rundfunkorchester wurden 2012 und 2014 mit dem Jahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik und dem International Classic Music Award prämiert. Anlässlich der von ihm geleiteten Ersteinstudierung des Ring des Nibelungen in Bulgarien an der Nationaloper in Sofia wurde er zum bulgarischen «Dirigenten des Jahres» gewählt. 2016 debütierte er an der Wiener Staatsoper mit L’elisir d’amore und 2017 an der Staatsoper Stuttgart mit Romeo und Julia. Am Opernhaus Zürich dirigierte er in jüngster Zeit Schwanensee sowie die beiden Opern von Ravel L’Heure Espagnole und L’Enfant et les sortilèges. Pavel Baleff ist 1. Preisträger beim Carl-Maria-von-Weber-Wettbewerb in München sowie beim Internationalen Bad Homburger Dirigentenwettbewerb, wurde in das Dirigentenforum des Deutschen Musikrates aufgenommen und erhielt eine Auszeichnung durch die Herbert von Karajan Stiftung.

Emma Ryott trained at Trent Polytechnic with a BA in Theatre Design. Ever since their first collaboration in 2003, Emma Ryott and Christian Spuck continued working together for ballet and opera productions, such as Lulu. Eine Monstretragödie in Stuttgart, Anna Karenina in Zurich, Oslo and Moscow, Romeo und Julia in Zurich, Woyzeck in Oslo and Zurich, Das Fräulein von S. in Stuttgart, Leonce und Lena in Montréal, Stuttgart und Zurich, Der Sandmann in Stuttgart und Zurich, Poppea / Poppea und Don Q. for Gauthier Dance, The Return of Ulysses for das Royal Ballet of Flanders, La Damnation de Faust at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Falstaff in Wiesbaden and Orfeo ed Euridice in Stuttgart. She also works closely with director Keith Warner. Their collaborations include Mathis der Maler at Theater an der Wien, Manon Lescaut at the English National Opera as well as La Damnation de Faust and Harbison’s The Great Gatsby at the Semperoper Dresden. Other designs were created for Sunset Boulevard and Manon Lescaut (Goteborg), Otello (Salzburg), The Heart of Robin Hood for the Royal Shakespeare Company (awarded with Elliot Norton Award for outstanding design), Rock ‘n Roll by Tom Stoppard (London Royal Court, West End and Broadway), Chekhov-trilogy directed by Jonathan Kent (National Theatre, London) and the New Year’s Day Concert, Vienna, 2016.

Reinhard Traub absolvierte eine Ausbildung als Grafikdesigner und Berufspilot. Von 1980 bis 1985 war er Assistent bei Chenault Spence und gestaltete anschliessend u. a. zwei Welttourneen mit den Produktionen Sophisticated Ladies und Carmen Jones als Lichtdesigner. Seit 1992/93 war er bei den Bühnen Graz tätig und konzipierte Lichtdesigns für Produktionen an den Opernhäusern von Amsterdam, Zürich, Brüssel, Hamburg, Helsinki, Hongkong, Kopenhagen, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Montreal, Moskau, München, Oslo, für die Salzburger Festspiele, das Glyndebourne Festival sowie für das Hamburger Thalia Theater, die Volksbühne Berlin und das Burgtheater in Wien. Reinhard Traub arbeitet regelmässig mit Regisseuren wie Johann Kresnik, Martin Kušej und Christof Loy zusammen. Seit 2006/07 ist Reinhard Traub Leiter der Beleuchtungsabteilung der Staatsoper Stuttgart. Dort ist er Lichtdesigner für Produktionen wie Jenůfa, Der Schaum der Tage, Ariadne auf Naxos, Nabucco sowie Die Nachtwandlerin, Platée, Der fliegende Holländer, Parsifal und La Bohème. 2017 war Reinhard Traub für das Lichtdesign der Produktion Aida bei den Salzburger Festspielen verantwortlich, ausserdem für Tristan und Isolde (2015), Parsifal (2016) und Lohengrin (2018) bei den Bayreuther Festspielen, denen er zukünftig bei Tannhäuser und Der Ring des Nibelungen verbunden sein wird. Darüber hinaus unterrichtet Reinhard Traub seit 2001 an der Staatlichen Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Stuttgart.

Michael Küster stammt aus Wernigerode (Harz). Nach dem Studium der Germanistik, Kunst- und Sprechwissenschaft an der Universität Halle war er Moderator, Autor und Sprecher bei verschiedenen Rundfunkanstalten in Deutschland. Dort präsentierte er eine Vielzahl von Klassik-Programmen und Live-Übertragungen wichtiger Konzertereignisse, u. a. aus der Metropolitan Opera New York, der Semperoper Dresden und dem Leipziger Gewandhaus. Seit 2002 ist er Dramaturg am Opernhaus Zürich, u. a. für Regisseure wie Matthias Hartmann, David Alden, Robert Carsen, Moshe Leiser/ Patrice Caurier, Damiano Michieletto, David Pountney, Johannes Schaaf und Graham Vick. Als Dramaturg des Balletts Zürich arbeitete Michael Küster seit 2012 u. a. mit Cathy Marston, Marco Goecke, Marcos Morau, Edward Clug, Alexei Ratmansky, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián und Hans van Manen, vor allem aber mit Christian Spuck zusammen (u. a. Romeo und Julia, Messa da Requiem, Winterreise, Dornröschen). An der Mailänder Scala war er Dramaturg für Matthias Hartmanns Operninszenierungen von Der Freischütz, Idomeneo und Pique Dame.

Wolf Hoeyberghs is from Belgium. He received his training at the Royal Ballet School in Antwerp and at the European School of Ballet (ESB) in Amsterdam. He was the winner of the Munich International Ballet Competition in 2017 and a prizewinner at Tanzolymp Berlin. He has performed with the Royal Ballet of Flanders, the Dutch National Ballet, and Ballett Zürich. This is his third season as a member of the Junior Ballett.

Kevin Pouzou is French. He studied at the École de Danse de l’Opéra de Paris and at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris. In 2007 he became a member of the Staatsballett Berlin, where he was appointed principal dancer in 2015. He has performed as Benno in Patrice Bart’s Schwanensee, as Paris in John Cranko’s Romeo und Julia, as well as in choreographies by George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Stanton Welch, Angelin Preljocaj, Alexei Ratmansky, Ohad Nahrin, Vladimir Malakhov, and Jiří Kylián. He has been a member of Ballett Zürich since the 2017/18 season, where he has appeared as Prince Siegfried in Alexei Ratmansky’s Schwanensee, Diaghilev in Marco Goecke’s Nijinski, and Albrecht in Patrice Bart’s Giselle.

Matthew Knight is British. He completed his training at the Elmhurst School and the Royal Ballet School in London. After a season with the Junior Ballett, he joined Ballett Zürich in the 2014/15 season. He presented Jane Doe and Mocambo as part of the «Junge Choreografen» series. He has danced in choreographies by Mats Ek (Cavalier in Dornröschen), William Forsythe, Marco Goecke (Moor in Petruschka), Jiří Kylián, Douglas Lee, Sol León/Paul Lightfoot, Hans van Manen, Wayne McGregor, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, and Filipe Portugal. He was Leonce in Christian Spuck’s Leonce und Lena, Nathanael in Spuck’s Der Sandmann and the Clown in Spuck’s Nussknacker und Mausekönig. In 2018 he also appeared as the title roles in Edward Clug’s Faust and in Marco Goecke’s Nijinski. In 2016 he was awarded the «Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich».

Jan Casier was born in Belgium. He studied at the Royal Ballet School in Antwerp. From 2008 to 2012 he was a member of the Royal Ballet of Flanders where he danced in ballets by John Cranko, William Forsythe, David Dawson and Christian Spuck. He appeared in David Dawson’s Faun(e) as a guest at the English National Ballet. From 2012 to 2014 he was a member of Ballett Zürich, where he performed roles in numerous Christian Spuck ballets, including Leonce in Leonce und Lena, Paris in Romeo und Julia and the title role of Woyzeck. He also danced in choreographies by Edward Clug, Sol León/Paul Lightfoot, Marco Goecke and Wayne McGregor. From 2014 to 2016 he was a member of the Semperoper Ballett Dresden. There he performed in choreographies by Aaron Watkins (Prince in The Nutcracker), William Forsythe, Alexei Ratmansky, David Dawson and Alexander Ekman. Jan Casier returned to Ballett Zürich in 2016. Since his return, he has danced in Forsythe’s Quintett, Godani’s rituals from another when and the title role in Edward Clug’s Faust and Marco Goecke’s Nijinski. He also appeared as Drosselmeier in Christian Spuck’s Nussknacker und Mausekönig. In 2019, he was named «Dancer of the Year» by the «tanz» magazine and was awarded the «Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich».

Michelle Willems is French. She studied at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and at the Atelier Rudra-Béjart in Lausanne. After two seasons with the Junior Ballett, she joined Ballett Zürich in the 2016/17 season. After solo roles in Giselle and Schwanensee, she danced Kitty in Christian Spuck’s Anna Karenina, Marie in Spuck’s Nussknacker und Mausekönig and Gretchen in Edward Clug’s Faust, and in Spuck’s Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern. She has also appeared in choreographies by William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Marco Goecke, Crystal Pite, George Balanchine, Ohad Naharin, Douglas Lee, and Filipe Portugal She was awarded the «Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich» in 2018.

Emma Antrobus comes from Australia. She studied at the Lamont Dance Theatre, at the Conlan College in Sydney and at the Ballett Akademie of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. After two seasons with the Junior Ballett, she joined Ballett Zürich with the 2019/20 season. She danced in choreographies by Christian Spuck (including Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern), Edward Clug, Crystal Pite, and Ohad Naharin. In 2018, she was awarded the «Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich».

Wei Chen comes from the USA and received his education at the Boston Ballet School, the Margo Marshall School of Ballet, the Walnut Hill School, and the Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy. At the Royal Ballet of Flanders he danced in Marcia Haydées Schwanensee (Siegfried) and Dornröschen (Prince Desiré) as well as in Cranko’s Onegin (Lensky). He has also appeared in choreographies by Balanchine, Bournonville, Dawson, Forsythe, Godani, McGregor, Nureyev, Pite, Stevenson, and Wheeldon. He has been a member of Ballett Zürich since the 2013/14 season and has performed in choreographies by Douglas Lee, Jiří Kylián, Marco Goecke, Edward Clug, William Forsythe, and Crystal Pite, among others. He also danced Romeo and Mercutio in Spuck’s Romeo und Julia, Benno in Ratmansky’s Schwanensee, Coppelius in Spuck’s Der Sandmann, and Albrecht in Patrice Bart’s Giselle.

Mark Geilings comes from Australia, where he was trained at the Australian Ballet School. He danced with the Leipzig Ballet from 2012-2015, where he performed in choreographies by Uwe Scholz, Mario Schröder (the title role in Otello), Meryl Tankard (Cinderella), Ohad Naharin, and Cayetano Soto. He was a member of Gauthier Dance in Stuttgart for the 2015/16 season, where he performed in Marco Goecke’s Nijinsky. He has been a member of Ballett Zürich since the 2016/17 season, where he has appeared in Petruschka by Marco Goecke, Kammerballett by Hans van Manen, Gods and Dogs by Jiří Kylián, Lady with a Fan by Douglas Lee, and as Mercutio in Spuck’s Romeo und Julia, among others.

Inna Bilash comes from Ukraine. She studied ballet at the Kharkov Choreographic School, the Perm State Choreographic College and the Perm State Academy of Arts and Culture. She was a principal dancer in the Perm Ballet, where she appeared as Julia in Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo und Julia, Odette/Odile in Natalia Makorova’s Schwanensee, Giselle in the choreography of Perrot/Coralli/Petipa, the Bride in Kylián’s Les Noces and Masha in MacMillan’s Winter Dreams. She has also appeared as a soloist in choreographies by Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine and Douglas Lee. She won the Arabesque Competition in Perm and the Bolshoi Ballet Television Competition. In 2017 she was awarded the prize from the ballet magazine «The Soul of Dance». Inna Bilash has been a member of Ballett Zürich since the 2018/19 season and has appeared in a variety of roles, including as the title role in Patrice Bart’s Giselle.

Elena Vostrotina comes from St. Petersburg. She received her ballet education at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet. In 2003 she became a member of the Mariinsky Ballet. There she danced among others Odette/Odile in Schwanensee (Petipa/Ivanov), Myrtha in Giselle (Coralli/Perrot), Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote (Gorsky) and in Approximate Sonata (Forsythe). In 2006 she was engaged by Aaron S. Watkin at the Semperoper Ballett Dresden. Here she was appointed principal dancer and danced a wide repertoire of classical, neoclassical and modern ballets. She has collaborated with renowned choreographers and performed at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theater in Moscow, at the State Theater Novosibirsk, at the gala «Roberto Bolle and Friends», and at the Ballets Bubeníček. Elena Vostrotina has been a first soloist at Ballett Zürich since the 2017/18 season, where season she has appeared as Odette/Odile in Ratmansky’s Schwanensee reconstruction, as the nursemaid in Christian Spuck’s Romeo und Julia, Myrtha in Patrice Bart’s Giselle as well as in Christian Spuck’s Nussknacker und Mausekönig, Winterreise and Nocturne.

Katja Wünsche comes from Dresden and was trained at the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin. She has won prizes at numerous ballet competitions. From 1999 to 2012 she danced in the Stuttgart Ballet, including as a principal dance from 2006. She danced leading roles in choreographies by John Cranko (Romeo und Julia, Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung, Onegin), John Neumeier (Endstation Sehnsucht, Die Kameliendame), Marcia Haydée (Dornröschen, La Sylphide, La fille mal gardée) and Christian Spuck (Lulu, Der Sandmann, Leonce und Lena, Das Fräulein von S.) and ballets by Forsythe, Kylián, León/Lightfoot and Goecke. In 2007 she was awarded the German Dance Prize Future (for promising young artists) and the German Theater Prize Der Faust. Katja Wünsche has been a first soloist with Ballett Zürich since the 2012/13 season. She has been seen in Zurich as Julia in Spuck’s Romeo und Julia, Lena in Leonce und Lena, Marie in Woyzeck, Anna Karenina and Kitty in Anna Karenina and Clara in Der Sandmann. She has also performed in choreographies by Sol León/Paul Lightfoot, Douglas Lee, Martin Schläpfer, Wayne McGregor and Marco Goecke. In 2014 she was awarded the «Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich».

Rafaelle Queiroz is from Brazil. She received her training in Rio de Janeiro and, with a stipend from the Tanzstiftung Birgit Keil, at the Akademie des Tanzes in Mannheim. She was a finalist at the «Prix de Lausanne» and won the Langham Award at the Youth American Grand Prix 2009. She was a member of the Badisches Staatsballett Karlsruhe from 2009 to 2019, where roles included Odette/Odile in Schwanensee by Christopher Wheeldon, Myrtha in Giselle by Peter Wright, the title role in La Sylphide by Peter Schaufuss, Katharina/Bianca in Cranko’s Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung, Julia in Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo und Julia, and the title role in Rusalka von Jiří Bubeníček. In addition, she appeared in choreographies by Hans van Manen, Heinz Spoerli, Davide Bombana and Reginaldo Oliveira.  She joined Ballett Zürich with the 2019/20 season.

Mélissa Ligurgo comes from Belgium and studied at the Royal Ballet School in Antwerp. She danced in John Cranko’s Onegin (Tatiana), as well as in ballets by Forsythe, Kylián, Dawson, and Robbins, at the Royal Ballet of Flanders. She appeared in Preljocaj’s Romeo und Julia (Julia) at the Ballett Basel in the 2011/12 season. She has been a member of Ballett Zürich since the 2012/13 season, where has danced Lena in Leonce und Lena by Christian Spuck and Frau Mauserinks in Nussknacker und Mausekönig. She has also appeared in choreographies by Wayne McGregor and Douglas Lee. As part of the «Junge Choreografen» series she presented Mind Games and Klastos together with Giulia Tonelli as well as Individuo.

Mélanie Borel comes from France. She studied at the École Nationale Supérieure de Danse in Marseille and at the École de Danse de l’Opéra de Paris. Engagements have taken her to the Ballet de l’Opéra National de Bordeaux and, from 2005 to 2008, to the Peter Schaufuss Ballet in Denmark. She has been a member of Ballett Zürich since the 2008/09 season and has performed as a soloist in choreographies by Twyla Tharp, Heinz Spoerli, and Mats Ek.  She was the Haushofmeister in Spuck’s Leonce und Lena and danced the «Cholerisch» variation in Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments. In addition, she has appeared in choreographies by Marco Goecke, Douglas Lee, Jiří Kylián, Wayne McGregor, Martin Schläpfer, Hans van Manen, Edward Clug and Crystal Pite.

Irmina Kopaczynska was born in Poland. She studied at the Polish National Ballet School Poznan. She won several prizes in the Polish National Ballet Competition. She also took part in the «Premio Roma» and the «Prix de Lausanne». After two seasons with the Junior Ballett, she became a member of Ballett Zürich starting with the 2011/12 season. She danced the Silver Fairy in Mats Ek’s Dornröschen, Betsy in Christian Spuck’s Anna Karenina, and the Nursemaid in Spuck’s Romeo und Julia. She has also appeared in choreographies by William Forsythe (In the middle, New Sleep), Hans van Manen (Kammerballett), Jiří Kylián (Gods and Dogs, Bella Figura), Iacopo Godani, Edward Clug, Marco Goecke (including the Mother in Nijinski), Douglas Lee, and Crystal Pite.

Alba Sempere Torres is Spanish. She trained at the Institut del Teatro in Barcelona and at the John Cranko School in Stuttgart. She won the Castellón Ballet Competition and danced with the Vienna State Opera Ballet, the Staatsballett Berlin and, from 2004 to 2008 with the Bayerisches Staatsballett. She has appeared in choreographies by Jo Strømgren, Peter Wright, Jiří Kylián, Vladimir Malakhov, John Neumeier and Mats Ek, among others. She has belonged to Ballett Zürich since the 2014/15 season, where she has been seen in choreographies by Jiří Kylián, Hans van Manen, George Balanchine, Patrice Bart, Martin Schläpfer, and Christian Spuck.