Un Ballo

Jiří Kylián (Czechoslovakia, 1947) began his dance career at the age of nine at the school of the National Ballet in Prague. In 1962 he was admitted as a student at the Prague Conservatory. He left Prague when he received a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in London in 1967. He then joined the Stuttgart Ballet under the direction of John Cranko. Here Kylián made his debut as a choreographer with "Paradox" for the Noverre Society. After creating three ballets for the Nederlands Dans Theater ("Viewers", "Stoolgame" and "La Cathédrale Engloutie"), he became Artistic Director of the ensemble in 1975. In 1978 he brought the Nederlands Dans Theater to international fame with "Sinfonietta". In the same year, together with Carel Birnie, he founded NDT II, which was intended to serve as a bridge between school and professional ensemble. In 1991 he also initiated NDT III, an ensemble for older dancers over forty years of age. In 1999 Kylián handed over the artistic direction, but remained associated with NDT as a house choreographer until December 2009. Jiří Kylián has created almost 100 works, many of which are performed worldwide. Kylián has choreographed not only for the Nederlands Dans Theater, but also for the Stuttgart Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Bavarian State Opera Munich, Swedish Television and the Tokyo Ballet. Kylián has collaborated with many creative personalities of international stature – composers: Arne Nordheim ("Ariadne" 1979), Toru Takemitsu ("Dream Time", 1983) – stage designers: Walter Nobbe ("Sinfonietta", 1978), Bill Katz ("Symphony of Psalms", 1978), John Macfarlane ("Forgotten Land", 1980), Michael Simon ("Stepping Stones", 1991), Atsushi Kitagawara ("One of a Kind", 1998), Susumu Shingu ("Toss of a Dice" 2005), Yoshiki Hishinuma ("Zugvögel" 2009). In 2006, the film "Car-Men" was created on Czech brown coal open-cast mines together with film director Boris Paval Conen. In 2010 Kylián served as a dance mentor as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. In 2013 he created the film "Between Entrance & Exit" together with Boris Paval Conen and NTR, which was nominated for the "Gouden Kalf" award at the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht. For the Aichi Triennale 2013 in Nagoya, Japan, he created the full-length dance/film production "East Shadow", which was dedicated to the victims of the tsunami in Japan. Together with Czech film director Jan Maliř he made the films "Schwarzfahrer" (2014) and his most recent film "Scalamare" (2017), which was filmed on the steps of the Monumento ai Caduti in Ancona, Italy. Over the course of his career, Kylián has received numerous international awards and honours. He is an Officer of the Orange Order, Commander of the Legion d'honneur and honorary doctorate of the Juilliard School in New York. He received three Nijinsky Awards in Monte Carlo (Best Choreographer, Best Company and Best Production), the Prix Benois de la Danse, the Honorary Medal of the President of the Czech Republic as well as the Medal of the Order for Arts and Science of the House of Orange. He was also awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Czech Ministry of Culture and the Czech Television Award for the documentary film "Forgotten Memories". During the festival "Celebrating Kylian!" the choreographer was awarded honorary citizenship of The Hague. In 2017 Kylián was awarded the lifetime achievement award "Positano Premia La Danza Léonide Massine Award". In 2019 Kylián was admitted as a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In connection with this honor, a seat for the field of "Dance" was established at the academy. In 2021 Kylián received the Gratias Agit Award and in 2024 the Order of the White Lion, the highest award of the Czech Republic.

Jiří Kylián (Czechoslovakia, 1947) began his dance career at the age of nine at the school of the National Ballet in Prague. In 1962 he was admitted as a student at the Prague Conservatory. He left Prague when he received a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in London in 1967. He then joined the Stuttgart Ballet under the direction of John Cranko. Here Kylián made his debut as a choreographer with "Paradox" for the Noverre Society. After creating three ballets for the Nederlands Dans Theater ("Viewers", "Stoolgame" and "La Cathédrale Engloutie"), he became Artistic Director of the ensemble in 1975. In 1978 he brought the Nederlands Dans Theater to international fame with "Sinfonietta". In the same year, together with Carel Birnie, he founded NDT II, which was intended to serve as a bridge between school and professional ensemble. In 1991 he also initiated NDT III, an ensemble for older dancers over forty years of age. In 1999 Kylián handed over the artistic direction, but remained associated with NDT as a house choreographer until December 2009. Jiří Kylián has created almost 100 works, many of which are performed worldwide. Kylián has choreographed not only for the Nederlands Dans Theater, but also for the Stuttgart Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Bavarian State Opera Munich, Swedish Television and the Tokyo Ballet. Kylián has collaborated with many creative personalities of international stature – composers: Arne Nordheim ("Ariadne" 1979), Toru Takemitsu ("Dream Time", 1983) – stage designers: Walter Nobbe ("Sinfonietta", 1978), Bill Katz ("Symphony of Psalms", 1978), John Macfarlane ("Forgotten Land", 1980), Michael Simon ("Stepping Stones", 1991), Atsushi Kitagawara ("One of a Kind", 1998), Susumu Shingu ("Toss of a Dice" 2005), Yoshiki Hishinuma ("Zugvögel" 2009). In 2006, the film "Car-Men" was created on Czech brown coal open-cast mines together with film director Boris Paval Conen. In 2010 Kylián served as a dance mentor as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. In 2013 he created the film "Between Entrance & Exit" together with Boris Paval Conen and NTR, which was nominated for the "Gouden Kalf" award at the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht. For the Aichi Triennale 2013 in Nagoya, Japan, he created the full-length dance/film production "East Shadow", which was dedicated to the victims of the tsunami in Japan. Together with Czech film director Jan Maliř he made the films "Schwarzfahrer" (2014) and his most recent film "Scalamare" (2017), which was filmed on the steps of the Monumento ai Caduti in Ancona, Italy. Over the course of his career, Kylián has received numerous international awards and honours. He is an Officer of the Orange Order, Commander of the Legion d'honneur and honorary doctorate of the Juilliard School in New York. He received three Nijinsky Awards in Monte Carlo (Best Choreographer, Best Company and Best Production), the Prix Benois de la Danse, the Honorary Medal of the President of the Czech Republic as well as the Medal of the Order for Arts and Science of the House of Orange. He was also awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Czech Ministry of Culture and the Czech Television Award for the documentary film "Forgotten Memories". During the festival "Celebrating Kylian!" the choreographer was awarded honorary citizenship of The Hague. In 2017 Kylián was awarded the lifetime achievement award "Positano Premia La Danza Léonide Massine Award". In 2019 Kylián was admitted as a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In connection with this honor, a seat for the field of "Dance" was established at the academy. In 2021 Kylián received the Gratias Agit Award and in 2024 the Order of the White Lion, the highest award of the Czech Republic.

Joke Visser arbeitete zehn Jahre als freischaffende Kostümdesignerin für das Holländische Nationalballett, das Nederlands Dans The­a­ter und die Holländische Opernvereinigung, bevor sie 1987 fest beim Nederlands Dans Theater angestellt wurde. Bereits zwei Jahre später übernahm sie die Leitung der dortigen Kostümabteilung. Seitdem hat sie alle Kostüme für Jirí Kyliáns Produktionen geschaffen. In den vergangenen Jahren kreierte sie die Kostüme für Bella Figura, Wings of Wax,  A Way A Lone, One of a Kind, Indigo Rose, Half Past, Doux Mensonges», Arcimboldo 2000, Click-Pause-Silence, Birth-Day, 27’52˝, Claude Pascal, When Time Takes Time, Far too close, Last Touch, Sleepless, Toss of a Dice, Chapeau, Tar and Feathers, Vanishing Twin, Gods and Dogs und Mémoires d’oubliettes. Neben ihrer Arbeit für weitere Choreografen betreut sie die Kostümausstattung der Kylián-Ballette weltweit.

Jiří Kylián (Czechoslovakia, 1947) began his dance career at the age of nine at the school of the National Ballet in Prague. In 1962 he was admitted as a student at the Prague Conservatory. He left Prague when he received a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in London in 1967. He then joined the Stuttgart Ballet under the direction of John Cranko. Here Kylián made his debut as a choreographer with "Paradox" for the Noverre Society. After creating three ballets for the Nederlands Dans Theater ("Viewers", "Stoolgame" and "La Cathédrale Engloutie"), he became Artistic Director of the ensemble in 1975. In 1978 he brought the Nederlands Dans Theater to international fame with "Sinfonietta". In the same year, together with Carel Birnie, he founded NDT II, which was intended to serve as a bridge between school and professional ensemble. In 1991 he also initiated NDT III, an ensemble for older dancers over forty years of age. In 1999 Kylián handed over the artistic direction, but remained associated with NDT as a house choreographer until December 2009. Jiří Kylián has created almost 100 works, many of which are performed worldwide. Kylián has choreographed not only for the Nederlands Dans Theater, but also for the Stuttgart Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Bavarian State Opera Munich, Swedish Television and the Tokyo Ballet. Kylián has collaborated with many creative personalities of international stature – composers: Arne Nordheim ("Ariadne" 1979), Toru Takemitsu ("Dream Time", 1983) – stage designers: Walter Nobbe ("Sinfonietta", 1978), Bill Katz ("Symphony of Psalms", 1978), John Macfarlane ("Forgotten Land", 1980), Michael Simon ("Stepping Stones", 1991), Atsushi Kitagawara ("One of a Kind", 1998), Susumu Shingu ("Toss of a Dice" 2005), Yoshiki Hishinuma ("Zugvögel" 2009). In 2006, the film "Car-Men" was created on Czech brown coal open-cast mines together with film director Boris Paval Conen. In 2010 Kylián served as a dance mentor as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. In 2013 he created the film "Between Entrance & Exit" together with Boris Paval Conen and NTR, which was nominated for the "Gouden Kalf" award at the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht. For the Aichi Triennale 2013 in Nagoya, Japan, he created the full-length dance/film production "East Shadow", which was dedicated to the victims of the tsunami in Japan. Together with Czech film director Jan Maliř he made the films "Schwarzfahrer" (2014) and his most recent film "Scalamare" (2017), which was filmed on the steps of the Monumento ai Caduti in Ancona, Italy. Over the course of his career, Kylián has received numerous international awards and honours. He is an Officer of the Orange Order, Commander of the Legion d'honneur and honorary doctorate of the Juilliard School in New York. He received three Nijinsky Awards in Monte Carlo (Best Choreographer, Best Company and Best Production), the Prix Benois de la Danse, the Honorary Medal of the President of the Czech Republic as well as the Medal of the Order for Arts and Science of the House of Orange. He was also awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Czech Ministry of Culture and the Czech Television Award for the documentary film "Forgotten Memories". During the festival "Celebrating Kylian!" the choreographer was awarded honorary citizenship of The Hague. In 2017 Kylián was awarded the lifetime achievement award "Positano Premia La Danza Léonide Massine Award". In 2019 Kylián was admitted as a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In connection with this honor, a seat for the field of "Dance" was established at the academy. In 2021 Kylián received the Gratias Agit Award and in 2024 the Order of the White Lion, the highest award of the Czech Republic.

Joop Caboort stammt aus Den Haag. Seit seinem 21. Lebensjahr ist er dem Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) verbunden, wo er sämtliche Stationen der technischen Abteilung durchlief. 1970 wurde er Technischer Direktor des NDT und noch im gleichen Jahr wurde zum Haus-Lichtdesigner ernannt. Er entwarf das Lichtdesign für mehr als 200 Tanzproduktionen von Choreographen wie Hans van Manen, Jennifer Muller, Louis Falco, Glen Tetley, Nacho Duato und vor allem Jirí Kylián. Er arbeitete mit Bühnenbildnern wie Jean-Paul Vroom, William Katz, Walter Nobbe, Nadine Baylis, John Macfarlane und Michael Simon zusammen.

Nach seinem Studium an der Kunstakademie Brüssel arbeitete Kees Tjebbes mit verschiedenen Theatern und Compagnien zusammen, darunter das Toneelgroep Theater, Introdans, Scapino Ballet Rotterdam und Nederlands Dans Theater. Bei Introdans und dem Scapino Ballet Rotterdam kreierte er das Lichtdesign für Neuproduktionen von Ed Wubbe, Nils Christe und Itzik Galili. Ausserdem arbeitete er mit Choreografen wie Mats Ek, William Forsythe und Ohad Naharin zusammen. Seit er 2000 für Jiří Kyliáns Click – Pause - Silence das Licht gestaltete, wirkt er bei fast allen Tanzproduktionen des Choreografen mit, u. a. bei 27’52’’, Claude Pascal, When Time Takes Time, Far too close, Last Touch, Sleepless, Toss of a Dice, Chapeau, Tar and Feathers, Vanishing Twin, Gods and Dogs und Mémoires d’oubliettes für das Nederlands Dans Theater sowie Il faut qu’une porte für das Ballett der Opéra de Paris. Er ist zudem als Lichtdesigner für sämtliche weltweit neu- oder wiederaufgeführten Kylián-Produktionen verantwortlich, arbeitet aber auch mit Choreografen wie Ken Ossola, Stephan Thoss, Crystal Pite, Yuri Possokhof und Didy Veldman zusammen.

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.

Shlomi Miara was born in Israel. After training at the L&L Goodman Bat-Dor Beer-Sheva Municipal Dance Center, he performed with the Kamea Dance Company and the Israel Ballet. This is his first Junior Ballet season.

Martin Gebhardt was lighting designer and Head of Lighting for John Neumeier’s Hamburg Ballet. From 2002 onward he collaborated with Heinz Spoerli and the Ballett Zürich. Ballet productions of both companies took him to renowned theatres across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. At Zurich Opera House he created the lighting design for productions by Jürgen Flimm, David Alden, Jan Philipp Gloger, Grischa Asagaroff, Matthias Hartmann, David Pountney, Moshe Leiser/Patrice Caurier, Damiano Michieletto, and Achim Freyer. At the Salzburg Festival he designed the lighting for "La bohème" and for a new version of Spoerli’s "Der Tod und das Mädchen". Since the 2012/13 season Martin Gebhardt has been Head of Lighting at Zurich Opera House. He maintains a close collaboration with choreographer Christian Spuck (including "Winterreise", "Nussknacker und Mausekönig", "Messa da Requiem", "Anna Karenina", "Woyzeck", "Der Sandmann", "Leonce und Lena", "Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern"). He has also worked as lighting designer for choreographers Edward Clug (including "Strings", "Le Sacre du printemps" and "Faust" in Zurich), Alexei Ratmansky, Wayne McGregor, Marco Goecke, and Douglas Lee. He collaborated with Christoph Marthaler and Anna Viebrock on Handel’s "Sale" and Rossini’s "Il viaggio a Reims" in Zurich as well as on "Lulu" at the Hamburg State Opera, and with Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito at the Grand Théâtre de Genève for "Les Huguenots". In 2023 he designed the lighting for Spuck’s ballet "Bovary" at the Staatsballett Berlin and in 2024 for Rossini’s "Tancredi" at the Bregenz Festival. He was also the lighting designer for Cathy Marston’s "Atonement" at Zurich Opera House.

Regula Mattmüller wurde in Basel geboren. Sie studierte Textildesign an der Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst in Zürich. Seit fünfzehn Jahren ist sie in der Kostümabteilung des Opernhauses Zürich tätig, vorrangig für das Herrenballett. 2007 entwarf sie Bühne und Kostüme für Filipe Portugals Choreografie Road B. In den vergangenen Spielzeiten war sie für die Mitentwicklung des Kostümbildes bei den «Jungen Choreografen» verantwortlich, ausserdem war sie Bühnen- und Kostümbildnerin bei einer Reihe von Projekten in der freien Theater- und Tanzszene.

Martin Gebhardt was lighting designer and Head of Lighting for John Neumeier’s Hamburg Ballet. From 2002 onward he collaborated with Heinz Spoerli and the Ballett Zürich. Ballet productions of both companies took him to renowned theatres across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. At Zurich Opera House he created the lighting design for productions by Jürgen Flimm, David Alden, Jan Philipp Gloger, Grischa Asagaroff, Matthias Hartmann, David Pountney, Moshe Leiser/Patrice Caurier, Damiano Michieletto, and Achim Freyer. At the Salzburg Festival he designed the lighting for "La bohème" and for a new version of Spoerli’s "Der Tod und das Mädchen". Since the 2012/13 season Martin Gebhardt has been Head of Lighting at Zurich Opera House. He maintains a close collaboration with choreographer Christian Spuck (including "Winterreise", "Nussknacker und Mausekönig", "Messa da Requiem", "Anna Karenina", "Woyzeck", "Der Sandmann", "Leonce und Lena", "Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern"). He has also worked as lighting designer for choreographers Edward Clug (including "Strings", "Le Sacre du printemps" and "Faust" in Zurich), Alexei Ratmansky, Wayne McGregor, Marco Goecke, and Douglas Lee. He collaborated with Christoph Marthaler and Anna Viebrock on Handel’s "Sale" and Rossini’s "Il viaggio a Reims" in Zurich as well as on "Lulu" at the Hamburg State Opera, and with Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito at the Grand Théâtre de Genève for "Les Huguenots". In 2023 he designed the lighting for Spuck’s ballet "Bovary" at the Staatsballett Berlin and in 2024 for Rossini’s "Tancredi" at the Bregenz Festival. He was also the lighting designer for Cathy Marston’s "Atonement" at Zurich Opera House.

Der katalanische, in Barcelona beheimatete Choreograf Cayetano Soto erhielt seine Ausbildung zum Tänzer am Instituto del Teatro seiner Heimatstadt sowie am Königlichen Konservatorium Den Haag. Nach einem ersten Engagement bei IT Dansa Barcelona wechselte er 1998 als Tänzer an das von Philip Taylor geleitete BallettTheater München am Gärtnerplatztheater. Dort entstanden ab 2002 seine ersten Choreografien. 2005 beendete Cayetano Soto seine aktive Tänzerlaufbahn und arbeitet seither international als freischaffender Choreograf. Seine Stücke wurden vom Stuttgarter Ballett, dem Nederlands Dans Theater, dem Hessischen Staatsballett, der Gauthier Dance Company und dem Royal Ballet of Flanders aufgeführt. Ausserdem arbeitete er mit Compagnien wie BJM Montréal, dem Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre, dem Ballet Hispanico, Tanz Luzerner Theater, dem Ballet X in Philadelphia und Northwest Dance Project in Portland. 2009 begann eine regelmässige Zusammenarbeit mit dem Aspen Santa Fe Ballet und der im niederländischen Arnheim beheimateten Compagnie Introdans. Für das Ballett Dortmund entstand das Ballett Carmen, das auch vom Ballett des Nationaltheaters Brno übernommen wurde. In der Nürnberger Kirche St. Egidien wurde seine Choreografie von Mozarts c-Moll-Messe aufgeführt. 2015 wurde Cayetano Soto für die Dauer von drei Spielzeiten zum Hauschoreografen des Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC) im kanadischen Vancouver ernannt. Seine Choreografie ADASTRA für das Ballett São Paulo wurde 2015 als «Ballettproduktion des Jahres» ausgezeichnet. Er wurde mit zahlreichen Preisen bedacht. 2011 war er für seine Choreografie Uneven für die die russische Goldene Maske nominiert. Mit Maraschino Cherries tanzt das Junior Ballett erstmals eine Choreografie von Cayetano Soto.

Der katalanische, in Barcelona beheimatete Choreograf Cayetano Soto erhielt seine Ausbildung zum Tänzer am Instituto del Teatro seiner Heimatstadt sowie am Königlichen Konservatorium Den Haag. Nach einem ersten Engagement bei IT Dansa Barcelona wechselte er 1998 als Tänzer an das von Philip Taylor geleitete BallettTheater München am Gärtnerplatztheater. Dort entstanden ab 2002 seine ersten Choreografien. 2005 beendete Cayetano Soto seine aktive Tänzerlaufbahn und arbeitet seither international als freischaffender Choreograf. Seine Stücke wurden vom Stuttgarter Ballett, dem Nederlands Dans Theater, dem Hessischen Staatsballett, der Gauthier Dance Company und dem Royal Ballet of Flanders aufgeführt. Ausserdem arbeitete er mit Compagnien wie BJM Montréal, dem Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre, dem Ballet Hispanico, Tanz Luzerner Theater, dem Ballet X in Philadelphia und Northwest Dance Project in Portland. 2009 begann eine regelmässige Zusammenarbeit mit dem Aspen Santa Fe Ballet und der im niederländischen Arnheim beheimateten Compagnie Introdans. Für das Ballett Dortmund entstand das Ballett Carmen, das auch vom Ballett des Nationaltheaters Brno übernommen wurde. In der Nürnberger Kirche St. Egidien wurde seine Choreografie von Mozarts c-Moll-Messe aufgeführt. 2015 wurde Cayetano Soto für die Dauer von drei Spielzeiten zum Hauschoreografen des Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC) im kanadischen Vancouver ernannt. Seine Choreografie ADASTRA für das Ballett São Paulo wurde 2015 als «Ballettproduktion des Jahres» ausgezeichnet. Er wurde mit zahlreichen Preisen bedacht. 2011 war er für seine Choreografie Uneven für die die russische Goldene Maske nominiert. Mit Maraschino Cherries tanzt das Junior Ballett erstmals eine Choreografie von Cayetano Soto.