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Staatsballett Berlin Balanchine Jewels
Staatsballett in Berlin © CARLOS QUEZADA

Staatsballett Berlin

The art of defying gravity

Perfect grace and beauty. The Staatsballett offers the best in dance on Berlin’s stages – from classical ballet to modern character dance.

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For an almost infinite moment, she floats in the air - as if gravity did not exist. Then she touches down again, light as a feather, and the prima ballerina gracefully turns a pirouette. Perfection and beauty in perfection.
If you visit one of the three opera houses in Berlin, you can admire the dancers of the Staatsballett.

80 dancers from 30 nations

It is the largest ballet company in Germany: The Staatsballett Berlin employs 80 dancers from 30 nations. The Staatsballet presents its broad and extensive repertoire on three opera stages in the city of Berlin: in the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Komische Oper Berlin and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The Staatsballet was founded in 2004 through the merger of the former ballet ensembles of these three opera houses and is now an independent institution under the umbrella of the Stiftung Oper in Berlin.

The Staatsballett from its founding year in 2004 until today 

Vladimir Malakhov, an internationally acclaimed dancer of his generation, was the founding artistic director in 2004 and worked until 2014. His versatile and varied programme was characterised by numerous innovations: Creations by Maurice Béjart and George Balanchine dominated the programme, as did works by Mauro Bigonzetti or Angelin Preljocaj, who were regarded as protagonists of the choreographic avant-garde at the time. In addition, he once again brought rarities from the ballet repertoire to the stage. He was particularly successful in bringing first-class dancers to Berlin and thus building up the Staatsballet.

Malakhov was followed by the Spaniard Nacho Duato. Known worldwide as a choreographer, he was director of the Staatsballett from 2014 to 2018. Duato mainly brought his own creations to the programme and shaped the Staatsballet with a sensitive, introverted and highly individual movement language. He also brought works by his mentor and master Jiří Kylián and Ohad Naharin to the stage.
 

Johannes Öhman and Sasha Waltz, Berlin protagonist of contemporary dance, experimented with completely new ways of working with choreography as co-directors. Personalities such as Alexander Ekman, Alexei Ratmansky or Richard Siegal worked with the dancers on new creations with different approaches.

During the provisional directorship of Dr. Christiane Theobald, works by Pina Bausch and Mats Ek as well as works by a younger generation such as David Dawson have been performed. New: Various formats of an interactive supporting programme were developed with the aim of involving the audience more closely.

Christian Spuck has been artistic director of the Staatsballett Berlin since the 2023/2024 season. He is passionate about new creations by renowned contemporary choreographers as well as cultivating the classical ballet repertoire.

 In the annual survey for the 2023/24 season, the Staatsballett Berlin was named "Company of the Year" by the magazine tanz.

Dance is CLASS

The Staatsballett Berlin offers children and young people a broad education programme. The aim is to introduce everyone to the joy of dance and movement.

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