Lucas Valente comes from Brazil. He studied Performing Arts and Philosophy at the University of São Paulo. After engagements with Ballet Laura Alonso in Havana, the São Paulo Companhia de Dança and Richard Siegal’s Ballet of Difference, he was a member of Ballett Zürich from the 2017/18 season to the 2024/25 season. He appeared, among others, in choreographies by Johann Inger, Crystal Pite, William Forsythe and Christian Spuck (Monteverdi, Winterreise, Messa da Requiem).

After several works in the “Young Choreographers” series, he choreographed Sacre for the Tonhalle Zürich, Rex for the Ballet du Rhin, Sal for the São Paulo Companhia de Dança, as well as Cain and fast nacht at the Origen Festival. His choreography Umbra received the award for Best Choreography at the Biarritz Choreography Competition in 2022. In 2025 he created Point of No Return for the Junior Ballett. In 2026, Lucas Valente will choreograph for Ballett Zürich for the first time. He will also appear as a guest dancer in the 2025/26 season.

Daniel Lutz is from Zurich. His passion lies in experimenting with a wide variety of instruments and exploring unconventional ways of playing them and shaping sound. Through this exploratory approach, he has developed a distinctive sonic language that combines electronic structures with organic depth. He has been working as a composer since 2023 and has already accompanied several choreographies by Lucas Valente, including "Point of No Return" and "That Thing I Can’t Stop."

Lucas Valente comes from Brazil. He studied Performing Arts and Philosophy at the University of São Paulo. After engagements with Ballet Laura Alonso in Havana, the São Paulo Companhia de Dança and Richard Siegal’s Ballet of Difference, he was a member of Ballett Zürich from the 2017/18 season to the 2024/25 season. He appeared, among others, in choreographies by Johann Inger, Crystal Pite, William Forsythe and Christian Spuck (Monteverdi, Winterreise, Messa da Requiem).

After several works in the “Young Choreographers” series, he choreographed Sacre for the Tonhalle Zürich, Rex for the Ballet du Rhin, Sal for the São Paulo Companhia de Dança, as well as Cain and fast nacht at the Origen Festival. His choreography Umbra received the award for Best Choreography at the Biarritz Choreography Competition in 2022. In 2025 he created Point of No Return for the Junior Ballett. In 2026, Lucas Valente will choreograph for Ballett Zürich for the first time. He will also appear as a guest dancer in the 2025/26 season.

Jörg Zielinski comes from Berlin and has been living in Switzerland since 1991. He completed his training and studies in Berlin, Basel, and Zurich. His production management at Theater Basel and his senior role at "The Really Useful Group" gave him experience with international theater productions. He worked at Expo.02 in Yverdon-les-Bains as well as on the spatial installation Hotel Offen in Baden. He gained design experience at Vitra. As head of the props department at the Zurich Opera House, he collaborated with the Shanghai Opera House. This collaboration led to contacts with the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing and the Zurich University of the Arts, where he was invited to give lectures. As part of a master’s program, Jörg Zielinski gives lectures at the Bern University of the Arts. He designs and realizes stage sets and scenic installations. Designs have been created for the Zurich Opera House, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the London studio "United Visual Artists," and various independent projects. His photographs have been published and exhibited internationally.

Louise Flanagan is originally from England. After completing her ballet training at the Royal Ballet School, she danced at the Vanemuine Theatre in Estonia. She then shifted her focus to costume design, earning a degree from Middlesex University and completing a professional tailoring apprenticeship. She went on to work as a costume tailor on numerous high-profile films, musicals, and operas in England. Since 2013, she has been working as a freelance costume designer for dance and opera, collaborating with choreographers and directors such as Jörg Mannes, Kinsun Chan, Cathy Marston, Marcel Leemann, Terence Kohler, Sam Brown, Lillian Stillwell, Mauro Astolfi, Yuki Mori, Andreas Heise, Francesca Frassinelli, Peter Leung, Dimo Kirilov Milev, and Ihsan Rustem. Her work has been featured in international companies including the Bavarian State Ballet, Ballett Zürich, Ballett am Rhein, Stanislavsky Ballet Moscow, Theater Magdeburg, Theater Münster, Theater Regensburg, Oper Graz, Theater St. Gallen, Ballet du Capitole Toulouse, and the Origen Cultural Festival.

She also assisted costume designer Emma Ryott at Ballett Zürich, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and the Staatsballett Berlin.

Louise received a grant from the German Dance Association (Dachverband Tanz Deutschland) to research and develop a database of sustainably produced fabrics for dance costumes. By sharing and implementing her findings, she aims to reduce the environmental impact of new productions— taking a step toward greater ecological sustainability in dance and theatre.

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.

Michael Küster is from Germany. After studying German studies, art, and speech science at the University of Halle, he worked as a presenter, author, and speaker at various broadcasting stations in Germany. There, he hosted numerous classical music programs and live broadcasts of major concert events, including those from the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Semperoper Dresden, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
Since 2002, he has been a dramaturg at the Zurich Opera House, working with directors such as Matthias Hartmann, David Alden, Robert Carsen, Moshe Leiser/Patrice Caurier, Damiano Michieletto, David Pountney, Johannes Schaaf, and Graham Vick.
As dramaturg of Ballett Zürich, Michael Küster has collaborated since 2012 with Cathy Marston, Marco Goecke, Marcos Morau, Kim Brandstrup, Edward Clug, Alexei Ratmansky, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, and Hans van Manen. Together with Christian Spuck, he worked on productions including «Winterreise» («Prix Benois de la Danse»), «Romeo and Juliet», «Messa da Requiem», and «The Sleeping Beauty».
At La Scala in Milan, Michael Küster was dramaturg for Matthias Hartmann’s opera productions of «Der Freischütz», «Idomeneo», and «The Queen of Spades».