Mehmet Balkan
Born in Ankara, Turkey. He began his training at the age of 8 and graduated with distinction from the National Conservatory in Ankara. He received a scholarship to the Bolshoi Theatre School, where he worked with S. Messerer and A. Prokofiev, among others. At the age of 18, Mehmet Balkan returned to Ankara to join the National Ballet, where Dame Ninette de Valois was the company’s artistic advisor. Having achieved such high standards in the Vaganova technique, Dame de Valois suggested that he continue his studies to learn the English style and offered him a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in London. After completing his studies at the Royal Ballet School, Mehmet Balkan became a soloist with the National Ballet of Ankara.
Davide Dato
Dancer
Davide Dato was born in Biella in 1990 and graduated with distinction from the Ballet School of the Vienna State Opera. After further training at the School of American Ballet in New York City, he joined the Vienna State Ballet in 2008. In 2013, he was promoted to soloist, and in 2016, director Manuel Legris appointed him as a principal dancer. He has performed leading roles in both the classical and contemporary repertoire of the Vienna State Opera. He has appeared ten times in the globally broadcast New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. Additionally, he has performed as a guest at gala evenings worldwide.Davide Dato is a guest principal dancer at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, the Arena di Verona, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. He has been featured in various international television productions, several global advertising campaigns, and a short film.
Bela Földi
Ballet Director and Choreographer
Choreographer, director, and artistic director of the Budapest Dance Theatre since 1991, he founded his company 31 years ago, making it one of Hungary’s leading modern dance companies. The ensemble was established in 1991, and its style is rooted in “European modern dance,” which combines a high level of classical ballet knowledge with contemporary elements of modern dance theatre and various modern dance techniques (Limon, Horton, Graham, Cunningham), creating a harmonious fusion on stage.
Raza Hammadi
Choreographer
Born in Tunisia, Raza Hammadi began his training in 1976 at the school of Matt Mattox. He quickly became the pedagogical assistant to this great master of jazz dance and was one of the first jazz dance teachers invited to Maurice Béjart’s school and various international workshops.As a dancer and choreographer, he took over the artistic direction of the Ballet Jazz Art de Paris in 1981 and worked as a teacher both in France and abroad. In addition to creating works for his own company, he has been regularly invited since 1990 to create or adapt pieces for international companies, including L’Opera Je Budapest, Ballet de l’Opéra de Göteborg, Ballet National de Tunisie, Ballet de l’Opéra de Naples, La Compagnie Carte Blanche in Norway, Budapest Dance Theater, La Compagnie Ismael Aboudou – Île de la Réunion, La Compagnie Sphinx in Vienna, Austria, and La Compagnie Isadora in Bologna.In 1995, Raza Hammadi opened his own school in Paris, where he, along with various teachers, taught his unique dance style. Through this training, he has passed on his art to numerous choreographers, dancers, and artists.
Gyula Harangozó
Choreograph
Gyula Harangozó was known as a dancer in all the great opera houses of the world. After his dancing career, he worked as the director of the Hungarian National Ballet at the Hungarian State Opera and the Ballet of the Vienna State Opera and Volksoper (now: Vienna State Ballet). His choreographies are currently performed with great success in many countries. As the artistic director of Hungary’s largest summer stage, the Szeged Open-Air Festival, Gyula Harangozó also achieved great success as an opera and musical director!
Gabriele Haslinger
Ballet Pedagogue
Born on February 17, 1957, in Vienna, she began her training at the ballet school of the Vienna State Opera at the age of six, studying under Gerlinde Dill and Edeltraud Brexner, among others. In 1971, she was engaged by the ballet of the Vienna State Opera while simultaneously completing her school education with the Matura. In 1978, she became a dance partner of Rudolf Nureyev, and shortly thereafter, she was appointed as a principal dancer.
Rainer Krenstetter
Principal Dancer and Ballet Pedagogue
Rainer Krenstetter was born into a dance family in Vienna, where he began his ballet training at the ballet school of the Vienna State Opera. In 1999, he moved to the Royal Ballet School in London and continued his training there until 2000, when he became a member of the Vienna State Opera Ballet.
Natalya Kusch
Prima Ballerina
Natalyav Kusch was born in Nikopol (Ukraine). She began her ballet training at the Opera and Ballet Theatre in Dnipro (Ukraine). She moved to Austria to continue her study of classical ballet at the European Ballet Academy Austria. Her first engagement as a professional dancer was with the Ballet of the Vienna State Opera. After her first leading role as Giselle in Giselle, Manuel Legris appointed her as a principal dancer. In 2013, she moved to Australia to work as a principal dancer with the Queensland Ballet.
Thoriso Magongwa
Dancer and Ballet Pedagogue
Thoriso Magongwa began his dance career at the Ballet Theatre African Academy while also attending the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2000, he was a semifinalist at the prestigious international ballet competition Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, where he received numerous offers from renowned international European ballet schools.
Andrea Némethová
Ballet Pedagogue
Andrea Némethová/Valabik studied at the “Tanz Konservatorium” in Bratislava and first danced as a soloist in Prague and Tartu (Estonia). Later, she danced for 6 years with the “Finnish National Ballet” in Helsinki and 15 years at the “Vienna State Opera.” Ten years ago, she also began teaching training for the State Opera Ballet. She has taught in various summer courses in the Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia, the USA, Ecuador, and Finland. Currently, she is working as a guest pedagogue at the “Slovak National Ballet.”
Lukáš Slavický
Dancer, Ballet Director
Lukáš Slavický was born on September 17, 1980, in Prague. He received his professional training at the Dance Conservatory in Prague (1991-1999). During his studies, he performed in a series of productions organized by the school. In 1998, he took on the guest role of “Basil in Don Quijote” at the National Theatre in Brno. From the 2016/17 season, he was appointed as the artistic director of the ballet of the South Bohemian Theatre. Under his leadership, numerous original productions were created for the JD Ballet.
Brigitte Stadler
Ballet Mistress
Born on February 22, 1965, in Vienna. Dancer. She received her training starting in 1976 at the Ballet School of the Austrian Federal Theatres with E. Brexner, as well as with Stanley Williams in New York, USA, and Marika Besobrasova in Monte Carlo, Monaco. In 1979, she was accepted as the youngest member of the Vienna State Opera Ballet, and in 1983, she had her breakthrough performing alongside R. Nureyev in Swan Lake. In 1984, she became a principal dancer, and in 1990, she was appointed first soloist at the State Opera. In the fall of 2000, she had to end her active career due to injury. In 2001, she was responsible for staging the ballet Giselle (choreography and staging by Elena Tschernishova after Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa) at the State Opera.
Rasta Thomas
Dancer, Choreographer
Rasta Thomas, born in San Francisco, is considered one of the most versatile and world-renowned dancers of his generation. After a jeep accident at the age of two, doctors predicted he would never walk again. However, a rigorous training program disproved this prognosis. At just 5 years old, he earned a black belt in karate, took gymnastics and acrobatics lessons, and won international swimming competitions before his talent for ballet was discovered. He was then trained at the renowned Kirov Academy in Washington DC under the direction of Oleg Vinogradov.
Judith Turos-Kathol
Ballet Mistress
Judith Turos, Bavarian Chamber Dancer, was the Prima Ballerina at the Bavarian State Ballet at the Munich State Opera for over two decades. International guest performances took her to the USA, China, Russia, and across Europe. Her repertoire included all the major roles in classical, neoclassical, and modern ballet. She excelled in performance, musicality, drama, and comedy. After her career, she began working as a ballet mistress and coach.
Doreen Windolf
Ballet Pedagogue
Doreen Windolf trained as a classical stage dancer at the State Ballet School in Berlin. She danced with the Leipzig Ballet and the State Ballet Berlin, among others. In 2008, she trained as a dance educator and has been working as a ballet pedagogue at the State Ballet School Berlin since 2014. Since 2022, she has also been a lecturer at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art. In February 2021, Doreen Windolf was appointed to take over the temporary leadership of the Stage Dance Department at the State Ballet School Berlin. Her primary goal is to balance the performance demands of ballet training with the protection of health.
