Juan Ignacio Duato Barcia, also known as Nacho Duato (born 8 January 1957) is a Spanish modern ballet dancer and

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

. Since 2014, Duato has been artistic director of the Berlin State Ballet. He is openly gay.

Career

Nacho Duato studied at the Rambert School of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French dancer, choreographer and Theatre director, opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, tac ...

's Rudra School in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He started his dancing career in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

's Cullberg BalletCullberg
and later joined

Nederlands Dans Theater Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT; literal translation Netherlands Dance Theatre) is a Dutch contemporary dance dance company, company. NDT is headquartered at the ''Amare'' building in The Hague. NDT also performs at other venues in the Netherlands ...

, under artistic director

Jiří Kylián Jiří Kylián (born 21 March 1947) is a Czech former dancer and contemporary dance choreographer. He is considered one of the greatest contemporary dance choreographers in Czech history. Life Jiří Kylián was born in 1947 in Prague, Czecho ...

; he remained with the company for ten years. In 1983, he choreographed ''Jardí tancat'' ( Catalan: 'Shut garden') to music composed by

Maria del Mar Bonet Maria del Mar Bonet i Verdaguer (Balearic Catalan: ; born 1947 in Palma de Mallorca) is a Spanish singer from the island of Majorca. Early life and career Bonet studied ceramics in the school of arts, but eventually decided to dedicate herself ...

. The company was awarded the first prize in the Internationaler Choreographischer Wettbewerb, Köln. In 1988, Duato was appointed NDT resident choreographer together with Hans van Manen and

. From 1990 to 2011, Nacho Duato was the artistic director at Compania Nacional de Danza. Between 2011 and 2014, he led the ballet company of the Mikhailovsky Theatre in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In 2014, Nacho Duato became general and artistic director at the Berlin State Ballet. In 2016, Michael Mueller, Mayor of Berlin, announced that the city would not extend Duato's contract with the company when it expired in 2019. Sasha Waltz and Johannes Ohman succeeded him as joint artistic directors of the Berlin State Ballet. Duato returned to his previous post in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

as artistic director of the Mikhailovsky ballet company.

Prizes and awards

* 1983: ''Internationaler Choreographischer Wettbewerb,

Köln Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

'', First prize for ''Jardí tancat''. * 1987: ''VSCD Gouden Dansprijs'' for his dancing skilfulness * 1995: The grade of ''Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' which is awarded annually by the French Embassy in Spain. * 1998: ''Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts'' awarded by the Spanish Council. * 2000: ''

Prix Benois de la Danse The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and ...

'' awarded by 'the 'International Dance Association'' at the Stuttgart Opera, for his choreography ''Multiplicity. Forms of Silence and Emptiness'' (Multiplicidad, formas de silencio y vacío). * 2003: Spanish National Dance Award (''Premio Nacional de Danza'') for choreography

References

External links

Página personal de Nacho Duato

Archive film of Nacho Duato's ''Gnawa'' performed in 2010 at Jacob's Pillow

Archive film of Nacho Duato's ''Arenal'' performed in 2004 at Jacob's PillowArchive film of David Hallberg performing in Nacho Duato's ''Kaburias'' in 2012 at Jacob’s Pillow

Nacho Duato's page at Staatsballett Berlin in German
archived version from 2014) {{DEFAULTSORT:Duato, Nacho 1957 births Living people Entertainers from Valencia Spanish male ballet dancers Spanish choreographers Ballet choreographers Prix Benois de la Danse winners Spanish LGBTQ dancers Spanish gay artists Spanish gay entertainers Gay dancers LGBTQ choreographers 20th-century Spanish LGBTQ people 21st-century Spanish LGBTQ people