Christian Spuck comes from Marburg and was trained at the John Cranko School in Stuttgart. He 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, including the story ballet Lulu. Eine Monstretragödie after Frank Wedekind, Der Sandmann and Das Fräulein von S. after E.T.A. Hoffmann.

Christian Spuck has also worked with numerous renowned ballet companies in Europe and the USA. The Return of Ulysses (guest performance at the Edinburgh Festival) was created for the Royal Ballet of Flanders, and Woyzeck (after Georg Büchner) was premiered at the Norwegian National Ballet Oslo. The ballet Die Kinder, premiered at the Aalto Ballett Theater Essen, was nominated for the «Prix Benois de la Danse». His ballet Leonce und Lena (also after Georg Büchner) likewise premiered in Essen and subsequently was taken over by the Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal and the Stuttgart Ballet. The world premiere of Poppea//Poppea for Gauthier Dance at the Theaterhaus Stuttgart was voted one of the ten most successful dance productions worldwide by the magazine Dance Europe in 2010 and was awarded the German Theatre Prize Der Faust in 2011 as well as the Italian Danza/Danza Award. Christian Spuck is also active in the field of opera. Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice at the Staatsoper Stuttgart (2009) was followed by Verdi’s Falstaff at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden (2010), Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust (2014) and Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer (2017) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. March 2021, his ballet Orlando after Virginia Wolf premiered at the Bolshoi theatre in Moscow.

Since the 2012/13 season, Christian Spuck has been director of Ballett Zürich. Thus far, his Romeo und Julia, Leonce und Lena, Woyzeck, Der Sandmann, Messa da Requiem (a co-production of the Oper and Ballett Zürich), Nussknacker und Mausekönig and Dornröschen have been shown here. The ballet Anna Karenina after Lew Tolstoy, which premiered in Zurich in 2014, was taken over by the Norwegian National Ballet Oslo and the Stanislavski Theatre in Moscow in 2016, as well as by the Korean National Ballet in Seoul, and the Bavarian State Ballet in 2017. For Winterreise, which premiered in October 2018 in Zurich, he was awarded with the «Prix Benois de la Danse 2019». In autumn 2019, he staged Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern (The Little Match Girl) by Helmut Lachenmann with Ballett Zürich, which was awarded «Production of the Year» by German magazine tanz.

Michail Jurowski studierte am Moskauer Konservatorium bei Leo Ginsburg und Alexej Kandinsky und wurde im Alter von 25 Jahren Assistent von Gennadi Roshdestwensky beim Grossen Symphonieorchester des Staatlichen Rundfunks und Fernsehens in Moskau. 1989 übersiedelte er aufgrund einer Einladung der Semperoper Dresden nach Deutschland und wurde 1990 Musikdirektor und ständiger Gastdirigent der Nordwestdeutschen Philharmonie Herford. Von 1999 bis 2001 war er Chefdirigent an der Oper Leipzig. Er ist ständiger Gastdirigent des Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchesters Berlin, der Deutschen Oper Berlin, des Tonkünstlerorchesters Wien, des Odense Symphony Orchestra und des Norrköping Symphony Orchestra. Von 2006 bis 2008 war er Chefdirigent des WDR-Rundfunkorchesters Köln. Höhepunkte seiner Operntätigkeit waren Sir Peter Ustinovs Produktion «Iolanthe» und Rachmaninows Francesca da Rimini bei den Dresdner Musikfestspielen, Boris Godunow an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Schostakowitschs Nase an der Oper Leipzig und Prokofjews Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen an der Komischen Oper Berlin, Parsifal am Teatro Carlo Felice in Genua, Tosca, La traviata und Die Zarenbraut an der Oper Frankfurt, Götterdämmerung in Dortmund, Tschaikowskis Dornröschen in Oslo sowie Respighis Marie Victoire, Un ballo in maschera und Rienzi an der Deutschen Oper Berlin. Am Opernhaus Zürich dirigierte er Glasunows Raymonda.

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.

Christian Schmidt studierte Bühnenbild bei Erich Wonder an der Wiener Akademie der Bildenden Künste. 1992 arbeitete er zum ersten Mal mit Claus Guth zusammen, woraus sich eine intensive künstlerische Partnerschaft entwickelte. Zahlreiche Inszenierungen Guths hat er mittlerweile als Bühnen- und Kostümbildner ausgestattet, darunter Iphigénie en Tauride und Le nozze di Figaro (Salzburger Festspiele), Der fliegende Holländer (Bayreuther Festspiele), Fierrabras, Radamisto, Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, Tristan und Isolde und Parsifal  für das Opernhaus Zürich sowie Mozarts Lucio Silla (Wiener Festwochen). Auch durch Uraufführungen hat sich das Team einen Namen gemacht, darunter Czernowins Pnima und Stauds Berenice für die Münchener Biennale, Ruzickas Celan in Dresden, Oehrings Unsichtbar Land in Basel und Czernowins Heart Chamber an der Deutschen Oper Berlin. Für Hans Neuenfels’ Inszenierungen von Zemlinskys Der König Kandaules an der Wiener Volksoper (1997) und Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Stuttgart (1998) entwarf Schmidt die Ausstattung (Auszeichnung «Inszenierung des Jahres» durch die «Opernwelt»). 2003 kürte ihn die «Opernwelt» zum «Bühnenbildner des Jahres», 2005 zum «Kostümbildner des Jahres». Für das Bühnenbild zu Simon Boccanegra in Hamburg erhielt er 2006 den Rolf-Mares-Preis. 2010 arbeitete er erstmals mit Christof Loy zusammen (Die lustige Witwe in Genf). Für Christian Spuck schuf er in Stuttgart das Bühnenbild zu Glucks Orphée et Eurydice sowie zu Romeo und Julia und Messa da Requiem in Zürich. Seit 2011 arbeitet er auch mit Andreas Homoki zusammen (Das schlaue Füchslein, Komische Oper Berlin und Juliette, Opernhaus Zürich) und verantwortet mit ihm den neuen Zürcher Ring.

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.

Manuel Renard was born on Guadeloupe (France). He trained at the Académie Internationale de Danse des Antilles, at the Alvin Ailey Dance Center in New York and at the Atelier Rudra-Béjart in Lausanne, and won first prize in the Confédération Nationale Française de Danse Competition for 1998 and 1999. Subsequent engagements with Maurice Béjart’s Compagnie M, the Monte Carlo Ballet and Ballett Basel saw him dance choreographies by Maurice Béjart, Claude Brumachon, Sidi Labi Cherkaoui, Johan Inger, Jorma Elo, Mauro Bigonzetti, Nacho Duato, Richard Wherlock and Angelin Preljocai. He joined Ballett Zürich for the 2012/13 season, since when he has been seen in such roles as Friar Lawrence in Christian Spuck’s Romeo and Juliet, von Rothbart in Heinz Spoerli’s Swan Lake, the doctor in Spuck’s Woyzeck and Karenin in Spuck’s Anna Karenina. He has also appeared in choreographies by William Forsythe, Sol León/Paul Lightfoot, Mats Ek and Wayne McGregor; and he has presented his works La Part des Anges and Indignons-nous as part of the company’s Young Choreographers programme. Last season his roles included Rotbart in Alexei Ratmansky’s reconstruction of Swan Lake and Coppola in Christian Spuck’s Der Sandmann.

Cristian Alex Assis is a native of Brazil. He studied at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts, on a scholarship awarded by the Brasilia International Dance Seminar. He was a member of the Munich-based Bavarian State Ballet from 2010 to 2012, and came to Ballett Zürich for the 2012/13 season. Since then he has been seen in various roles including Wronski in Christian Spuck’s Anna Karenina, Tybalt in Spuck’s Romeo and Juliet and the drum major and the captain in Spuck’s Woyzeck, in further choreographies by William Forsythe andEdward Clug and in Martin Schläpfer’s Forellenquintett. In the reconstruction of Swan Lake by Alexei Ratmansky he was seen as Rotbart.

Eva Dewaele is from Belgium. After completing training at the Royal Ballet School in Antwerp, she was engaged by the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the Theater Luzern, the Opera Göteborg, the Opéra de Lyon, the Cullberg Ballet and the Royal Ballet of Flanders. She has danced in choreographies by William Forsythe, Mats Ek and Jiří Kylián as well as in world premieres by Jacopo Godani, Douglas Lee, David Dawson and Christian Spuck. Eva Dewaele has also appeared in several feature films. With the start of the 2012/13 season she became a member of Ballett Zürich and was also ballet master of the Junior Ballett. She danced Lady Capulet in Christian Spuck’s Romeo und Julia, Rosetta in Leonce und Lena and the Dark Lady in Spuck’s Sonett. As a choreographer, Eva Dewaele created the piece Mit Blick auf for the Hodler retrospective of the Fondation Beyeler and presented the piece Miss(es) as a part of the «Junge Choreografen» series. Her choreography Passing by was created for the Junior Ballett. She has been a ballet master of Ballett Zürich since the 2014/15 season. She staged the production of Christian Spuck’s Anna Karenina at the Stanislavski Theatre in Moscow, the Korean National Ballet, and the Bayerisches Staatsballett.

Juliette Brunner, who is a native of Switzerland, trained at the Theater Basel Ballet School, at Brenda Hamlyn’s ballet school in Florence, under Malou Fenaroli in Zurich and at the School of American Ballet in New York. After dancing with the Düsseldorf/Duisburg-based Ballett am Rhein, the Leipzig Ballet and the Monte Carlo Ballet, she joined Ballett Zürich for the 2007/08 season. Since then she has been seen in leading roles in numerous productions including Heinz Spoerli’s Peer Gynt, Bella Figura, Wäre heute morgen und gestern jetzt, Orma, Abschied and Don Juan, Mats Ek’s Sleeping Beauty and William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude. Most recently she has danced the title role in Christian Spuck’s Anna Karenina, Lady Capulet in his Romeo and Juliet and the governess in his Leonce und Lena, along with choreographies by Martin Schläpfer, Wayne McGregor and Marco Goecke.

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».

Giulia Tonelli comes from Italy. She graduated from the Balletto di Toscana and the Ballet School of the Vienna State Opera. After her first engagement at the Vienna State Opera, she danced from 2002 to 2010 with the Royal Ballet of Flanders in Antwerp and from 2004 as a demi-soloist. There she danced Giselle (Petipa) as well as solo roles in choreographies of Forsythe, Balanchine, Kylián, Haydée and Spuck. She has been a member of Ballett Zürich since the 2010/11 season, where she has performed ballets by Spoerli, Goecke, McGregor, Lee, Forsythe, Kylián and Balanchine. She danced Julia in Christian Spuck’s Romeo und Julia, Lena in Spuck’s Leonce und Lena and Betsy in Anna Karenina. In Alexei Ratmansky’s Schwanensee reconstruction she danced in the Pas de trois and she also performed in Forsythe’s Quintett and Spuck’s Messa da Requiem. Last season’s highlights include Emergence by Crystal Pite and Gretchen in Edward Clug’s Faust. During the «Junge Choreografen» series she presented the works Mind Games and Klastos together with Mélissa Ligurgo. In 2013 she was awarded the Giuliana Penzi Prize. In 2017 she received the «Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich».

Tigran Mkrtchyan comes from Armenia. He was trained at the Armenian Ballet School and at the Zurich Dance Academy. He was a finalist at the Prix de Lausanne. After two seasons with the Junior Ballet, he has been a member of the Ballett Zürich since the 2011/12 season. He has danced in choreographies by Heinz Spoerli, Jiří Kylián, Mats Ek, William Forsythe, Sol León/Paul Lightfoot, George Balanchine, and Eric Gautier (Ballett 101). He has also appeared as Tybalt in Christian Spuck's Romeo and Juliet, as Stiva in Anna Karenina, as the Moor in Goecke's Petrushka and as the Prince in Ratmansky's Swan Lake. He presented his choreography The Rose that Grew from Concrete as a part of the Young Choreographers series. He was awarded the Dance Prize of the Friends of Ballett Zürich in 2017.

Denis Vieira is from Brazil. A graduate of his home country’s Bolshoi Theatre School, he danced various roles for the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro including Onegin/Lensky in John Cranko’s Onegin, Romeo in Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, Adam in Uwe Scholz’s Adam and Eve, Albrecht in Peter Wright’s Giselle and Prince Siegfried in Yelena Pankova’s Swan Lake. He joined Ballett Zürich in 2014, since when he has been seen in Schläpfer’s Forellenquintett, Kylián’s Wings of Wax, Kairos by Wayne McGregor and Sonett by Christian Spuck. He has also danced Tybalt and Romeo in Spuck’s Romeo and Juliet, Vronsky in his Anna Karenina, Leonce in his Leonce und Lena and Albrecht in Patrice Bart’s Giselle. He was also the recipient of the Friends of Ballett Zürich’s Dance Prize for 2015.

William Moore is British and studied at the Royal Ballet School in London. He has won prizes at international ballet competitions. He has belonged to the Stuttgart Ballet since 2005 and was appointed as principal dancer there in 2010. Important roles were Siegfried in Schwanensee, Lensky in Onegin and Lucentio in Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung (all by John Cranko), Armand in Neumeier’s Kameliendame, Leonce in Christian Spuck’s Leonce und Lena, the title role in Marco Goecke’s Orlando, Albrecht in Giselle by Anderson/Savina, Colas in Ashton’s La fille mal gardée. In 2012 William Moore was awarded the German Theater Prize «Der Faust». Since the 2012/13 season he has been first soloist with Ballett Zürich. Important roles include Romeo in Spuck’s Romeo und Julia, Vronsky in Anna Karenina, the Nutcracker in Spuck’s Nussknacker und Mausekönig, Mephisto in Faust by Edward Clug, Petruschka in the choreography by Marco Goecke, and Diaghilev in Goecke’s Nijinski. He has also appeared in pieces by Wayne McGregor, Sol León/Paul Lightfoot, Douglas Lee, and Jiří Kylián. In 2018 he received the «Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich».

Alexander Jones comes from Great Britain. He received his dance training at the Royal Ballet School in London. In 2004 he won the gold medal in the Adeline Genée Competition and the Dame Ninette de Valois Prize. In the 2005/06 season he became a member of the Stuttgart Ballet, where he was appointed principal dancer in 2011/12. In Stuttgart he has appeared as Armand Duval in Neumeier’s Kameliendame, Romeo in Cranko’s Romeo und Julia, in the title roles of Cranko’s Onegin and Kevin O’Days Hamlet, as Basilio in Maximiliano Guerra’s Don Quixote and in MacMillan’s Lied von der Erde. He has also danced in choreographies by Balanchine, Robbins, Ashton, Schaufuss, Tetley, Béjart, Haydée, van Manen, Forsythe, Lee, McGregor, Clug, and Spuck. Alexander Jones has been a first soloist of Ballett Zürich since the 2015/16 season. Here he has danced Prince Siegfried in Alexei Ratmansky’s Schwanensee reconstruction, Albrecht in Patrice Bart’s Giselle and Romeo in Romeo und Julia, Nathanael in Der Sandmann and Vronsky in Anna Karenina (all by Christian Spuck), among others.

Daniel Mulligan comes from Great Britain and studied at the Royal Ballet School in London. After two seasons with the Junior Ballett, he joined Ballett Zürich in the 2009/10 season. He has appeared as a soloist in many of Heinz Spoerli’s choreographies. He danced Mercutio/Benvolio in Christian Spuck’s Romeo und Julia as well as in ballets by Mats Ek (Dornröschen), Hans van Manen (Solo, Kammerballett), Edward Clug (Chamber Minds, Le Sacre du printemps), Sol León/Paul Lightfoot (Skew-Whiff, Speak for Yourself), William Forsythe (Quintett), Jiří Kylián (Gods and Dogs, Stepping Stones, Sweet Dreams), Ohad Naharin (Minus 16), Marco Goecke (Petruschka), Filipe Portugal (Corpus), Douglas Lee, and Crystal Pite. Recent leading roles have included Mephisto in Faust by Edward Clug, Fritz and the Clown in Spuck’s Nussknacker und Mausekönig, as well as Stiva in Spuck’s Anna Karenina.

Andrei Cozlac was born in Romania, and studied at the Bucharest Choreography High School and the Zurich Dance Academy. A three-time winner of the Romanian National Dance Competition, he also earned a gold medal at the 2011 Tanzolymp in Berlin and a bronze medal at the 2012 Helsinki International Ballet Competition. After two years with the Junior Ballet, he joined the main Ballett Zürich company last season. He has presented two of his own works, Midst Mettle and Milord(s),under the company’s Young Choreographers programme; he won the Friends of Ballett Zürich Dance Prize for 2013; and he has appeared in Marco Goecke’s Deer Vision, in the peasants’ pas-de-deux in Patrice Bart’s Giselle as well as in Alexei Ratmansky’s reconstruction of Swan Lake as Benno.

Christopher Parker comes from the United Kingdom and graduated from the Royal Ballet School in London. After his first engagement with the Scottish Ballet, he was a member of the Ballett Zürich from 2007 to 2010. He then danced at the Aalto Ballett Essen and at the Dortmund Ballet. He returned to the Ballett Zürich with the 2012/13 season. He has appeared as Benvolio/Valerio in Christian Spuck's Leonce and Lena, in Martin Schläpfer's Trout Quintet, and as the Magician in Marco Goecke's Petrushka. He also had solo roles in Spuck’s Sonett, Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, New Sleep and In the middle by William Forsythe, as well as in Faust – The Ballet by Edward Clug. As costume designer for Filipe Portugal, he worked for the Charlotte Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet, and the Junior Ballet.

Benoît Favre is from Switzerland, and trained at Neuchâtel’s Académie de Ballet and the Zurich Dance Academy. He has earned several awards at the Solothurn International Dance Competition (including a gold medal in 2010), and won gold at the Tanzolymp in Berlin. He was also a finalist (and won the Best Swiss Candidate Prize) at the 2011 Prix de Lausanne. After two years with the Junior Ballet, he joined the main Ballett Zürich company for the 2014/15 season. He has already been seen in a number of productions including Marco Goecke’s Deer Vision, and has presented his own works Shift and Identities under the company’s Young Choreographers programme. He won the Friends of Ballett Zürich Dance Prize for 2014; and earlier this year his work broken_line earned him the first-ever choreography prize at the Tanzolymp in Berlin.

Tars Vandebeek was born in Belgium, and studied at the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp. He won a gold medal at the International Competition of Dance in Biarritz, also earning the Biarritz City Award, and went on to perform for the Cannes Jeune Ballet and Gauthier Dance. After one year with the Junior Ballet, he joined the main company for the season 2014/15. He has already made a number of appearances on the Zurich stage, such as in Marco Goecke’s Deer Vision and as Levin in Christian Spuck’s Anna Karenina; and he danced the title role in Spuck’s Woyzeck.

Dominik White Slavkovský is Slovakian. Trained at the Bratislava Dance Conservatory, he danced for five years in the Ballet of the Slovak National Theater in Bratislava, most recently as a semi-soloist. He has been a member of Ballett Zürich since the 2014/15 season. In choreographies by Christian Spuck he performed the title role of "Woyzeck", as Drosselmeier in "Nutcracker and Mouse King", Coppelius in "The Sandman", Paris in "Romeo and Juliet" and as Death in Edward Clug's "Peer Gynt". He has also danced in choreographies by George Balanchine, Uwe Scholz, Alexei Ratmansky, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Crystal Pite, Hans van Manen, Nacho Duato, Marco Goecke, James Kudelka, Vladimir Malakhov and many others. In the series "Young Choreographers" he showed his pieces "How to save the world", "Conspiracy" and "Boyband"

Jesse Fraser was born in Saskatoon, Canada. He trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and became a member of the Stuttgart Ballet with the 2010/11 season. There he danced in choreographies by Cranko, MacMillan, Spuck, Haydée, Neumeier, Béjart, Forsythe, Cherkaoui, Goecke, Clug, Volpi, and Stiens. He created the choreographies Back and Forth and Second Self(ie) as a part of the «Young Choreographers» of the Noverre Society series. He has been a member of Ballett Zürich since the 2015/16 season. He has appeared as Paris in Christian Spuck’s Romeo und Julia, as Levin in Spuck’s Anna Karenina, as Hilarion in Patrice Bart’s Giselle, in Marco Goecke’s Petruschka and in choreographies by Jacopo Godani, Jiří Kylián, Hans van Manen, and Crystal Pite. In the 2019/20 season he appeared in Forsythe’s The Second Detail.

Filipe Portugal studied in Lisbon and, after his first engagement with the Portuguese National Ballet, was engaged by the Ballett Zürich in 2002. Here he danced solo roles in numerous choreographies by Heinz Spoerli (including Cinderella, Der Nussknacker, Schwanensee, Don Quixote, Coppélia, Giselle and Ein Sommernachtstraum). From 2009 to 2011 he was principal dancer at the Portuguese National Ballet. He returned to the Ballett Zürich in 2011 and has starred in numerous ballets by Christian Spuck, including Pater Lorenzo in Romeo und Julia, King Peter in Leonce und Lena, Doctor in Woyzeck, Karenin in Anna Karenina and Spalanzani in Der Sandmann. He has also appeared in choreographies by Mats Ek, Jiří Kylián, Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, Douglas Lee and Martin Schläpfer. Parallel to his dancing career, Filipe Portugal works successfully as a choreographer. Among his most recent works for the Ballett Zürich are Dialogos to the music of Swiss jazz musician Nik Bärtsch and disTANZ. He also choreographs for the Charlotte Ballet (USA) and the Stuttgart Noverre Society. In 2014 Filipe Portugal was awarded the «Tanzpreis der Freunde des Balletts Zürich».

Viktorina Kapitonova, who is a native of Russia, studied at the Kazan Ballet School and Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre Academy. The winner of both the Young Ballet of Russia competition and the Arabesque contest of 2008, from 2005 onwards she danced at the Jalil Opera House in Kazan, performing solo roles in Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, Coppélia  and The Nutcracker. She was a member of the Stanislavsky Ballet for the 2008/09 season; and she joined Ballett Zürich in 2010, since when her performances have included Odette/Odile in Heinz Spoerli’s Swan Lake, solos in Spoerli’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wäre heute morgen und gestern jetzt, ...und mied den Wind  and Goldberg Variations, Rosetta in Christian Spuck’s Leonce and Lena, the nurse in Spuck’s Romeo and Juliet and the leading role in Spuck’s Anna Karenina. She has also been seen in choreographies by Balanchine, Ek, Forsythe, Kylián, Lee, McGregor and Schläpfer. She presented her choreography Two Bodies – One Soul as part of the company’s Young Choreographers programme. As Giselle/Myrtha she was seen in Patrice Bart’s Giselle, alongside Roberto Bolle and Friedemann Vogel. She was also the recipient of the Friends of Ballett Zürich’s Dance Prize for 2015. Last season her roles included Odette/Odile in the reconstruction of Swan Lake by Alexei Ratmansky as well as Olimpia in Christian Spuck’s Der Sandmann.

The Bulgarian dancer Galina Mihaylova completed her education at the Bulgarian State Choreographic School and the Swiss Professional Ballet School, where she was a Nureyev Foundation scholarship holder. In the 1999/2000 season she became a member of the Ballett Zürich. She danced here in numerous choreographies by Heinz Spoerli. She has appeared as Effie (La Sylphide), Amor (Don Quixote), Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), in Wäre heute morgen und gestern jetzt, as Odette/Odile (Swan Lake) and Henriette (Raymonda). She has also performed in ballets by William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Twyla Tharp, Uwe Scholz, and Jiří Bubeniček. She danced the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Margret in Woyzeck and Dolly in Anna Karenina (all by Christian Spuck). She has also appeared in choreographies by Wayne McGregor, Marco Goecke, and George Balanchine.

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.