Gen Horiuchi ( ja, 堀内元) is a Japanese

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

dancer and choreographer. He was a principal dancer of the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company ...

and is artistic director of the

Saint Louis Ballet Company In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...

Biography

Gen Horiuchi (Hajime Gen Horiuchi) was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

on 29 August 1964. He was raised in a ballet family: his parents were both professional dancers and own their own studio in Tokyo. In 1980, Horiuchi won the

Prix de Lausanne The Prix de Lausanne is an international dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition a ...

, the international ballet competition in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He then received a scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet. In 1982, he was invited by

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

to join the

, where he became a principal dancer in 1989. He appeared in the 1993 film ''The Nutcracker'' in the role of Chinese tea. He played Mr. Mistoffelees in the musical "Cats", both on Broadway and in London's West End. He choreographed the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Since 1993 he has been a judge of the Prix de Lausanne. Since 2000 he has been artistic director of the Saint Louis Ballet Company and School. He has created a dozen original works for the company. Under his direction, the school rose from 50 students in 2000 to 350 in 2008."A Conversation with Gen Horiuchi"
, St. Louis magazine, March 2008. (Retrieved 5 Dec 2008)

References

External links

* New York City Ballet principal dancers Ballet choreographers Japanese male ballet dancers Living people People from Tokyo Year of birth missing (living people) {{ballet-bio-stub