The Berlin State Ballet () is the principal

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe that performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-rou ...

in the German capital of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. It was created in 2004 through a merger of the separate ballet companies of the city's three opera houses at a time when the city was going through a financial crisis. It is one of the largest ballet companies in Western Europe with approximately 90 dancers. Since 2004, the Berlin State Ballet, alongside the

Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of P ...

, the

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the ...

, the

Komische Oper Berlin The Komische Oper Berlin is a German opera company based in Berlin. The company produces operas, operettas and musicals. The opera house is located on Behrenstraße, near Unter den Linden. Since 2004, the Komische Oper Berlin, along with the Be ...

comprise the . The Berlin State Ballet inaugural general and artistic director, dancer and choreographer Vladimir Malakhov, was a director of the ballet of the Berlin Opera before the companies merged to form the Berlin State Ballet. He led the company for ten years, creating a mixed repertoire of classical titles and contemporary choreography. A star dancer himself, Malakhov was not only managing, but also performing with the company.

Leadership

In 2014,

Nacho Duato Juan Ignacio Duato Barcia, also known as Nacho Duato (born 8 January 1957) is a Spanish modern ballet dancer and choreographer. Since 2014, Duato has been artistic director of the Berlin State Ballet. He is openly gay. Career Nacho Duato st ...

became general and artistic director at the Berlin State Ballet with an initial five years term. He created new choreography for the company, and oversaw restagings of some of his signature ballets, created in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, in Berlin. In 2016, Michael Müller,

Mayor of Berlin The governing mayor () of Berlin is the head of government, presiding over the Berlin Senate. As Berlin is an independent city as well as one of the constituent states of Germany (), the office is the equivalent of the ministers president of t ...

, announced that the city will not extend Duato's contract with the company when it expires in 2019. For the 2018/19 season, took over as Director of the Staatsballett Berlin. For the 2019/20 season, Öhman was joined by

Sasha Waltz Sasha Alexandra Waltz (born 8 March 1963, Karlsruhe) is a German choreographer, dancer and leader of the dance company Sasha Waltz and Guests. Biography Waltz is the daughter of an architect and a curator. At the age of five years she had her ...

in a co-directorship. took over as provisional artistic director in August 2020. followed as permanent artistic director from the 2023/24 season.

References

External links

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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 of ...

Companies based in Berlin Dance in Germany Ballet companies in Germany Performing groups established in 2004