Marius Petipa

Patrice Bart
Patrice Bart is a French choreographer and was ballet-master and member of the Board of Ballet at the Opéra National de Paris until 2011. He has been connected with this theatre for over fifty years now. This is where his career began and this is where he won international acclaim.
Patrice Bart was born in Paris. He was twelve years old when he took his first steps and joined the École de Danse of the Opéra National de Paris, and just two years later he joined the theatre’s corps de ballet. He was then not yet fifteen, and so he had to obtain special permission to work. In 1963 Patrice Bart was made a coryphée and won the René Blum Prize for talented young French dancers for his achievements. As a first soloist of the Opéra de Paris, in 1969 he was a prize-winner at the I International Ballet Competition in Moscow, where he performed with Francesca Zumbo.
In 1972 Patrice Bart was awarded the honorary French title of 'danseur étoile', while in 1974 he won the Prix Nijinski, which is presented by Paris’ Université de la Danse.

Patrice Bart's repertoire at the Opéra de Paris included lead roles in the ballets The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Pétrouchka, Prodigal Son, Serge Lifar's Constellations (1969), Roland Petit's Mouvances (1976), Kenneth MacMillan's Métaboles (1978) and Rudolf Nureyev's production of Swan Lake (as Rothbart, 1984). Bart won acclaim as a brilliant virtuoso dancer (the pas de six in Auguste Bournonville's Napoli and the soloist in Arthur Saint-Léon's La Vivandière) and as a wonderful partner (Balanchine's Symphony in C and Le Corsaire), as well as an artist with an unexpected gift for comedy (Pierre Lacotte's version of Coppélia after Saint-Léon and Heinz Spoerli's La Fille mal gardée).
Patrice Bart's career as a dancer came to an end in 1986, but for a few more years he appeared on stage in character roles. At this time he also started coaching with the company's younger performers, and in 1987 became its ballet-master.

Patrice Bart has won acclaim for his active support of high standards and the preservation of the great traditions of the ballet company of the Opéra National de Paris. In 1991 together with Yevgeny Polyakov he prepared a classical version of the ballet Giselle to mark one hundred and fifty years since the work's premiere.
In 1992 Patrice Bart was Rudolf Nureyev's assistant on his production of the ballet La Bayadère at the Opéra National de Paris.
In 1993 Patrice Bart made his debut as a choreographer at the Berliner Staatsoper with a new production of the ballet Don Quixote, and in 1995 he staged this work with the Finnish National Ballet. In 1996 Patrice Bart staged productions of Giselle at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and Coppélia at the Opéra National de Paris. In 1997 the choreographer created a new version of Swan Lake at the Berliner Staatsoper and in 1998 a new and completed version of Petipa's La Bayadère for the Bayerische Staatsballett in Munich.
In 1999 Patrice Bart staged a production of Verdiana, his own first original ballet to music from operas by Giuseppe Verdi, and he also staged The Nutcracker with the Staatsballett Berlin. In 2001 Patrice Bart set the ballet Verdiana for the Teatro Comunale in Florence. In 2002 at the Staatsballett Berlin the choreographer staged a production of his own version of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, while in 2003 he presented yet another new ballet at the Opéra de Paris – La Petite danseuse de Degas to new music by Denis Levaillant. His next ballet was to be Tchaikovsky, staged in 2005 for the Finnish National Ballet in Helsinki, while in 2008 the Swedish Royal Ballet invited Bart to stage the grandiose historic production Gustav III to music by Carl Maria von Weber and Joseph Martin Kraus.

Before accepting Waldemar Dombrowski's invitation to stage his new ballet Chopin, the Romantic Artist in Warsaw for the Polish National Ballet, Patrice Bart returned to Berlin, where in 2009 he staged the ballet Das Flammende Herz to music by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy about the English romantic poet Percy Shelley.
Patrice Bart holds several honorary French titles, among them Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres, Officier de l'Ordre National du Mérite and Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur.

Tomio Mohri
gilt als einer der namhaftesten und vielseitigsten Künstler Japans. Berühmt ist er für seine exquisiten Kostümentwürfe und Ausstellungsinstallationen, er arbeitet jedoch ebenso als Bühnenbildner und Regisseur. Im Zentrum seines Interesses steht nicht zuletzt die Frage der Beziehungen zwischen Bewegung und Raum, die er multimedial zu erfassen sucht.

Lange Jahre war er künstlerischer Direktor für die Ausstellungen von Issey Miyake. Für diese Kostüminstallationen entwickelte er einen neuen Stil von visueller Performance, der bis heute weltweit als beispielhaft gilt. Darunter befanden sich so spektakuläre Präsentationen wie Issey Miyake A un im Musée d`Art Décoratif in Paris, Arbeiten für das San Francisco Museum of Modern Art und das Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Als Theaterautor und Regisseur zeichnete er in Tokio für verschiedene Produktionen verantwortlich, die sich als Maskentänze zwischen Tanz und No-Theater bewegten. Seine Laufbahn als Kostüm- und Bühnenbildner begann 1980 mit einer Arbeit für Maurice Béjart (Casta Diva) und setzte sich 1984 mit Kostümentwürfen für die Oper Le Coq d'Or für das Theatre Chatelet in Paris fort. Unter seinen Werken in Europa sind vor allem die Kostüme für Schwanensee beim Ballett der Opéra in Paris (1992) zu nennen und die Kostüme für Die Frau ohne Schatten (Bayerische Staatsoper), die als Premiere 1992 in Tokio herauskam und 1993 ins Münchner Nationaltheater einzog, sowie die Kostüme für Madame von Sado an der Berliner Schaubühne. Bei La Bayadère fürs Bayerische Staatsballett in München (Premiere am 23. März 1998 in der Neufassung von Patrice Bart) hat Tomio Mohri sowohl die Kostüme als auch das Bühnenbild entworfen. Tomio Mohris engste Mitarbeiterin bei der Realisierung seiner Entwürfe ist Kumiko Sakurai.   Buch, Regie und künstlerische Leitung:
1988 Kyorai, Ishikawa Prefectural Noh Theater, Kanazawa (Maskentanz 1)
1990 Dance, Spiral Hall, Tokyo (Maskentanz 2)
1991 Rinsoubu, Tanz von Tomio Mohri für NHK (Maskentanz 3) Künstlerische Leitung und Design der Mannequin Objekte für den Raum:
1983 Issey Miyake Körperarbeiten, Ausstellung Laforet Museum Migura, Tokyo; Otia-Parsons Gallery, Los Angeles; San Francisco Museum for Modern Art, San Francisco; Victoria & Albert Museum, Bollerhouse Project, London (1985)

1986 Mohri No Fuku, Installation für Raum und Kostüme. Spiral Hall, Toyko

1988 Issey Miyake A un, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris

1991 3. IAAF Weltmeisterschaft im Turnen, Tokyo. Eröffnungsfeier Teil 3 im Nationalstadion von Tokyo
Mohri No Aka, Zeichnungen in der Parco Gallery, Tokyo Bühnen- und Kostümentwürfe:
1980 Casta Diva (Ballett von Maurice Béjart), IRCAM, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
(Zusammenarbeit mit Issey Miyake, Kostüme)

1984 Le Coq d'Or (Oper) Theatre Musical de Paris Chatelet, Paris (Kostüme)

1986 Yamato Takeru (Kabuki), Shinbashi Enbujo, Tokyo (Kostüme)

1989 Ryu-Oh (Kabuki-Peking-Oper), Shinbashi Enbujo, Tokyo (Kostüme)

1991 Oguri (Kabuki)  Shinbashi Enbujo, Tokyo (Kostüme)
Ryusel (Kabuki), Kabukiza, Tokyo (Bühnenbild und Kostüme)
Bokutoukidan (Theaterstück), Imperial Theatre, Tokyo (Bühnenbild und Kostüme)

1992 Turandot (Oper), Auditorium Maurice Ravel, Lyon (Kostüme)
Schwanensee (Ballett) beim Ballet de L'Opéra de Paris, Bastille (Kostüme)
Die Frau ohne Schatten (Oper), Bayerische Staatsoper im Aichi Prefecturai Theater, Nagoya , und NHK Hall, Tokyo , 1993 im Münchner Nationaltheater (Kostüme)

1993 Dakkenden (Kabuki), Shinbashi Enbujo, Tokyo (Kostüme)

1994 Susano, Carrière de Boulbon, Avigon (Kostüme)

1996 Tristan und Isolde, Prinzregententheater München (Kostüme)
Madame von Sado, Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin (Kostüme)

1997 La Bayadére, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Nationaltheater, München Veröffentlichungen:
1990 Tomio Mohri Kostüm-Installationen, Rikuyosha

Maurizio Montobbio
Geboren am 10. Juni 1957 in Genua, ausgebildet in den USA. Arbeitet für Oper, Schauspiel und Tanz. U.a. Opéra Paris, Mailänder Scala, Deutsche Oper Berlin. Häufiger Lichtdesigner für Patrice Bart und den kanadischen Choreographen Jean Grand-Maitre. In München bislang Lightdesign für La Bayadère, Ecclesia und Emma B.. Als Beleuchtungschef auch mehrere Jahre lang verantwortlich für die europäischen Vorstellungen von Mikhail Baryschnikow und seinem White Oak Dance Project.

Maria Babanina

Pianist

Maria Babanina was born in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) on July 2nd, 1952. She studied the piano and musicology at the Leningrad Conservatory and specialised in historic research of ballet music. She taught at the Waganowa Academy, worked as music coach at the Maly Theatre in St. Petersburg and became pianist with the Kirov Ballet in 1978. Since September 1990 she has been pianist for the Bayerische Staatsballett and performed on stage, too, e.g. in Trois Gnossiennes, Other Dances , Songs without words, Zakouski, Jerome Robbins’ In the Night, and, most recently Hans van Manen's Adagio Hammerklavier. She has been responsible for the musical research and new music arrangements of the score for La Bayadère as well as for the musical arrangement of Ray Barra’s Raymonda and Le Corsaire (Liska/Petipa) for the Bavarian State Ballet.

Maria Babanina is chairwoman of the Alexander Glasunow foundation. 

Wolfgang Oberender

Assistant Director of Bavarian State Ballet

He studied German literature and history in Stuttgart, and opera direction in Hamburg. He was engaged as a dramatic adviser at the music theatre in Gelsenkirchen, in Essen, worked in Basel with Heinz Spoerli and in Regensburg.

Since 1992 he has been press officer and head of production at the Bavarian State Ballet. Ivan Liska promoted him - with Bettina Wagner-Bergelt - to Assistant Director.

 

Michael Schmidtsdorff

Ekaterina Petina
First Soloist

Ekaterina Petina was born in Sevastopol. Ten years old she started training at the Waganova Academy in St. Petersburg. In 2001 she assumed her first engagement at the Mariinsky Theatre St. Petersburg where she among others danced solo parts in Balanchine’s Rubies, Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Approximate Sonata, Steptext and several fairies in Sleeping Beauty. She also participated in various Mariinsky Theatre tours across Japan, England, China, Canada and Mexico.

In 2009/2010 she became a Soloist and since the beginning of the season 2011/12 she performs as First Solist at the Bavarian State Ballet.

Debut 2009/2010
Olympia in Die Kameliendame (J. Neumeier)
Odaliske in Shéhérazade (M. Fokine)
Girlfriend in Raymonda (M. Petipa)
Odalisk in Le Corsaire (M. Petipa, I. Liška)
Pas de deux 2 in Artifact (W. Forsythe)
Rival in Série Noire - A choreographic murder mystery (T. Kohler)

Debut 2010/2011
Woman 3 in My Ravel: Whichever Way he Looks... (J. Mannes)
Nymph in My Ravel: Daphnis and Chloé (T. Kohler)
Lilac Fairy, Violente fairy, Duchess and Rubin in Sleeping Beauty (M. Petipa(I. Liška)
Pas de Six in The Taming of the Shrew (J. Cranko)
Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew (J. Cranko)
Princess Odette in Illusions - like Swan Lake (J. Neumeier)
Dulcinea in Don Quijote (M. Petipa, new choreography by R. Barra, A. Gorski, Tradition)
Mercedes in Don Quijote (M. Petipa, new choreography by R. Barra, A. Gorski, Tradition)

Debut 2011/2012
Katharina in The Taming of the Shrew (J. Cranko)
Princess Natalia in Illusions - like Swan Lake (J. Neumeier)
Louise in The Nutcracker (J. Neumeier)
Broken Fall (R. Maliphant)
1. Pas de trois in Goldberg-Variationen (J. Robbins)
1. Pas de deux in Goldberg-Variationen (J. Robbins)
Odette/Odile in Swan Lake (Ray Barra/Lew Iwanow/Marius Petipa)

Debut 2012/2013
Nikiya in La Bayadère (M.Petipa/P. Bart)
2. Pas de deux in Goldberg-Variationen (J.Robbins)
The Woman in Song of the Earth (K. MacMillan)
6. Variation in Birthday Offering (F. Ashton)

Roberta Fernandes.
Principal dancer

Roberta Fernandes is from Brazil. Her most important teachers there were Eugênia Feodorova, Rosália Verlangieri and Emilio Martins. From 1991 until 1993 she attended the John-Cranko-School in Stuttgart and received her first engagement with the Stuttgart Ballet under the direction of Marcia Haydée. She was appointed soloist in 1998. Her repertoire includes Opus I by John Cranko, Voluntaries by Glen Tetley, the Pas de Deux of Holbergs Zeiten (John Cranko), Myrtha in Giselle (Reid Anderson and Valentina Savina), Aurora and Elderfairy in Sleeping Beauty (Marcia Haydée) and Kitri in Don Quijote (Maximiliano Guerra). She danced in Brouillards and Initialien R.B.M.E. (John Cranko), Monotones (Frederick Ashton), Herman Schmerman, Aproximate Sonata, Love Songs and Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude (William Forsythe), Siebte Sinfonie (Uwe Scholz), Manon and Prudence in Lady of the Camellias by John Neumeier and the leading role in Theme and Variations (George Balanchine). Further parts were: Paquita (Marius Petipa), Song of the Earth (Sir Kenneth MacMillan), Große Fuge (Hans van Manen) and Dances at Gathering (Jerome Robbins). 2002 she gave her debut as Odette/Odile in Swanlake and she danced the part of Katharina in John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew in 2004. Shortly after that she performed the part of the queen in Jerome Robbin’s The Cage.

She created roles in ballets by Nacho Duato (The flower), Heinz Spoerli (How it happens), John Alleyne (Aria for my father), Stefan Thoss (Les Noces), Kevin O’Day (Delta Inserts, dreamdeepdown), Pascal Touzeau (Jupiter), Trey McIntyre (The Difference between Naked and Nude), Dominique Dumais (Still,nest), Mauro Bigonzetti (Quattro Danze per Nino, Kazimir’s Colours) as well as Christian Spuck, Jean Cristophe Blavier, Marguerite Donlon and Jean Christophe Maillot.

In 2005/2006 she joined the Bavarian State Ballet as a Soloist and was promoted to Principal at the beginnning of the season 2007/2008.
In Munich Roberta Fernandes could extend her large classic and particularly contemporary repertoire, for example Gamzatti and first solo in the Schattenakt in La Bayadère (P. Bart), the creation of
Annina in Die silberne Rose (G. Murphy) and Myrtha in Giselle (P. Wright).

Debut 2005/2006
Pas de quatre (L. Jacobson)
Zigeunerin in Romeo and Juliet (J. Cranko)
Myrtha in Giselle (P. Wright)
First Pas de deux in Century Rolls (D. Bombana)

Debut 2006/2007
Solo in Five Tangos (H. van Manen)
Cousin of prince of Italy in Swan Lake (R. Barra)
Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (J. Cranko)
Medora in Le Corsaire (M. Petipa, I. Liska)
"Von der Jugend" in Song of the Earth (K. MacMillan)

Debut 2007/2008
Tatjana and Olga in Onegin (J. Cranko)
Pas de deux, fourth movement, Brahms-Schönberg-Quartett (G. Balanchine)
Große Fuge (H. van Manen)
Adagio Hammerklavier (H. van Manen)
Violakonzert/II (M. Schläpfer)
Ariel in Der Sturm (J. Mannes)

Debut 2008/2009
Stepmother in A Cinderella Story (J. Neumeier)
Myrtha in Once Upon An Ever After (T. Kohler), creation
Gulnara in Le Corsaire (Petipa, Liška)
Manon und Prudence in Lady of the Camelias (J. Neumeier), Munich debut
Zugvögel (J. Kylián), creation
Zobéide in Shéhérazade (M. Fokine)
Clémence in Raymonda (Petipa/Barra)

Debut 2009/2010
Lady of the house in Les Biches (B. Nijinsky)
Ballerina in Série Noire - ein choreographischer Krimi (T. Kohler)
Aus Holbergs Zeit (J. Cranko), Pas de deux

Debut 2010/2011
Lykanion in My Ravel: Daphnis and Chloé (T. Kohler)
Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty (M. Petipa, I. Liška)
Woman 3 in My Ravel: Whichever Way he Looks... (J. Mannes)
Princess Claire in Illusions - like Swan Lake (J. Neumeier)
Death / The Woman in Multiplicity - Forms of Silence and Emptiness (N. Duato)
Mercedes in Don Quijote (R. Barra nach M. Petipa, A. Gorski, Tradition)

Debut 2011/2012
Second Sister in Las Hermanas (K. MacMillan)
2. Pas de deux in Goldberg-Variationen (J. Robbins)

Vadim Muntagirov
Vadim Muntagirov was born 1990 in Chelyabinsk (Russia). In 1999 he entered Perm Choreographic Ballet Institute. After winning Prix de Lausanne in 2006 he was invited to continue his training at the Royal Ballet School graduating in 2009. He joined English National Ballet in 2009 at the age of 19 as First Artist.

Since joining English National Ballet Muntagirov has performed leading roles in all the classical repertory. He was casted as Prince Siegfried in Derek Deane's Swan Lake to open English National Ballet's season and in 2010 he debuted as Romeo in Rudolf Nureyev's Romeo and Juliet.
In 2011 he won the award for Outstanding Male Performer as well as emerging Dancer, by the London Critics' Circle.
Muntagirov made his debut with American Ballet Theatre in 2012 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. dancing Solor in La Bayadère. Dancing the role of Solor, he will have his Germany debut in September 2012 with the Bavarian State Ballet.

Peter Jolesch
Character dancer (guest) / Assistant to the Ballet Director

He was born in Budweis, Bohemia, and started his training at the ballet school in Rosenheim before he joined the ballet classes of Gustav Blank and Michel de Lutry at the conservatory in Munich. In 1970 he became apprentice in the ballet company of the Bavarian State Opera and one year later was engaged as a dancer of the Corps de ballet. Further engagements led him to the London Festival Ballet and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf before he returned to Munich in 1977.
Peter Jolesch danced in more than 90 ballet productions with partners like Marcia Haydée, Eva Evdokimova and Natalia Makarova.

Still a guest dancer of the Bavarian State Ballet he appears in several character roles, such as Gremin (Onegin), Monsieur G.M. (Manon), Don Quijote and Manolo (Don Quijote), Father Lorenzo (Romeo and Juliet) and The Duke (The Lady of the Camellias).

In January 2005, he joined the staff of the Bavarian State Ballet as Assistant to the Director, being responsible - among others - for the rehearsal schedules.

Since the Bavarian State Ballet started its extended programme for children, Peter Jolesch has been active in leading workshops for children and is part of the leading team for the projects Dancing Anna and The dancing Classroom.
In 2009, Jiri Kylian created a solo variation for him in his ballet Zugvögel.

Norbert Graf

First soloist

Norbert Graf was born in Cologne (Germany) and attended a local private Ballet school for six years. He received private individual training for two years, and at the age of sixteen passed the entrance exams at the Munich Ballet Academy/Heinz-Bosl-Foundation under the directorship of Konstanze Vernon.
Directly after having obtained his diploma, he joined the Bavarian State Ballet in 1989. He took over solo parts already during his first season.

Among others he has danced Hilarion in Giselle, Paris and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The great Brahman in La Bayadère, Onegin in Onegin and various solo parts in contemporary choreographies such as Five Tangos, Trois Gnossiennes, Night, Concertante, Three Pieces, Grosse Fuge, and Lieder ohne Worte by Hans van Manen, Svadebka by Jiří Kylián, Fearful Symmetries by P. Martins, Artifact II by W. Forsythe. Albrecht in Mats Ek's Giselle and Des Grieux in The Lady of the Camellias, Teacher and Officer in Shannon Rose by J. Vamos und Tambourmajor in Woyzeck-Fragmente by D. Bombana.

He created roles in Lucinda Childs's Chamber Symphony and in Hammerklavier; Rothbart in Ray Barra’s Swan Lake and the „man with the strong heart“ in Grand-Maître`s Emma B., the father in Neumeier`s A Cinderella Story, leading parts in Forsythe`s Artifact II, The second detail, Teshigawara`s Le sacre du printemps, Mats Ek‘s Apartment and „A Sort of...“
Norbert’s most recent debuts include Forsythe’s Limb’s Theorem and Hans van Manen’s The Old Man and Me. For his creation So nah so fern, Itzik Galili created a prominent role for him.

In 2001 he worked as a choreographer for the first time, creating Loggia and Richard, of which Loggia was performed during two matinees in the National Theatre. One year later he choreographed Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, and in 2003 Insections. In 2005 he created Love letters by Frida Kahlo together with Beate Vollack and a solo variation for Tigran Mikayelyan entitled Evolution. In 2007 he created Letter to Leroy to music of the American composer Andersen and in 2008 the pas de deux Avedis to premiere at the Heinz-Bosl-Matinee on November 16, 2008. In 2010 he was in charge of the new production "Whichever Way he Looks" (J. Mannes).

Norbert Graf was awarded the honorary title "Kammertänzer" by the Bavarian Ministry of Culture in spring 2008. In the same year he received the award "Classique" by the Heinz-Bosl-Foundation.

Norbert Graf is also engaged in the programme the Bavarian State Ballet offers for children and young people. 2011 he is in charge of the project "Young horses Lounge II".

He is married with the first soloist Valentina Divina. They have two sons.

Debut 2005/2006
Baron Ochs in The silver rose (G.Murphy)
Elemental (J. Godani), creation

Debut 2006/2007
Lankedem in Le Corsaire (M. Petipa/I. Liska)

Debut 2007/2008
Gremin in Onegin (J. Cranko)
Gonzalo in Der Sturm (J. Mannes), creation
Cambio d'abito (S. Sandroni), creation

Debut 2008/2009
Schah Zeman in Shéhérazade (M. Fokine)

Debut 2009/2010
Seneschal in Raymonda (M. Petipa)
P.S. Norbert Graf - Schütze, Ascendent Skorpion (S. Sandroni)
The Earl in Série Noire - A choreographic murder mystery (T. Kohler)
Prince Désiré in Once Upon an Ever After (T. Kohler)

Debut 2010/2011
Prince Leopold in Illusions - like Swan Lake (J. Neumeier)
Bach in Multiplicity - Forms of Silence and Emptiness (N. Duato)
Camacho in Don Quijote (M. Petipa, new choreography by R. Barra, A. Gorski, Tradition)
Don Quijote in Don Quijote (M. Petipa, new choreography by R. Barra, A. Gorski, Tradition)

Debut 2011/2012
Konsul Stahlbaum/ "La fille du Pharao" in The Nutcracker (J. Neumeier)

Debut 2012/2013
Rajah in La Bayadère (M. Petipa/P. Bart)

Elaine Underwood
was born in Northampton, Great Britain, and started her professional dance education in Newcastle-u-Lyme. She then joined the Royal Ballet School in London for two years where she received her diploma. A two-year engagement in Graz followed, first as a member of the Corps de ballet, then as soloist, before she was engaged at the Bavarian Opera Ballet by John Cranko in 1969. Here she danced for 15 years, 12 years as a soloist, and during that time participated in all ballet premieres in various roles. Her repertoire included f. ex. parts in all the works of Balanchine and Cranko that were performed by the State Ballet; she performed the Myrtha in Giselle as well as Tatjana in Onegin.
In 1984 Elaine finished her active career as a dancer, she started a retraining in office management and received a German language diploma. Since 1996 she has helped the students at the Heinz-Bosl-Stiftung and in 2001 she was engaged at the Bavarian State Ballet to supervise the department of ballet shoes.
In autumn 2012 she returned on stage and played the part of Aiya (Gamzatti's servant) in La Bayadère (M. Petipa/P. Bart). 

Karen Azatyan
First Soloist

Karen Azatyan, born in Armenia, started his dance education at the Yerevan Dancing Art State College and completed it in 2007 at the Dance Academy in Zurich. During his time in Zurich he received the second price at the competition “Tanz Olymp Berlin 2005” in the category classic variation and in the same year the Prix de Lausanne scholarship and won the young promising dancer award of the international ballet competition Varna in 2006.

From the season 2007/2008 on, he has joined the Bavarian State Ballet as a member of the Corps de ballet and becam a soloist in autumn 2010. With the beginning of the season 2012/13 Karen Azatyan became First Soloist.

Debut 2007/2008
Sebastian and Antonio in The Tempest (J. Mannes)

Debut 2008/2009
Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (J. Cranko)
Zugvögel (J. Kylián), creation

Debut 2009/2010
Athlet in Les Biches (B. Nijinska)

Debut 2010/2011
Albrecht in Once Upon an Ever After (T. Kohler)
Daphnis in My Ravel: Daphnis and Chloé (T. Kohler)
Hortensio in The Taming of the Shrew (J. Cranko)
Count Alexander in Illusions - like Swan Lake (J. Neumeier)
Basilio in Don Quijote (M. Petipa, new choreography by R. Barra, A. Gorski, Tradition)

Debut 2011/2012
Fritz in The Nutcracker (J. Neumeier)
Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew (J. Cranko)
Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty (M. Petipa / I. Liška)
Voices of Spring-Pas de deux (F. Ahston)
Gods and Dogs (J. Kylián)
Pas de six and Russian dance in Swan Lake (R. Barra)

Debut 2012/2013
Golden Idol in La Bayadère (M. Petipa/P. Bart)
4. Solo-Boy in Choreartium (L. Massine)
Birthday Offering (F. Ashton)
Prometheus in Heroes (T. Kohler)

Séverine Ferrolier
First Soloist
Séverine Ferrolier, born in Toulon/France, was trained in the Centre de Danse Christiane Espitalier de La Valette. Having graduated, she danced with the ballet at the Opéra de Toulon, the Ballet National de Nancy under the direction of Pierre Lacotte and with the English National Ballet in London. Between 1997 and 2004 she was engaged at Leipzig Ballet under the direction of Uwe Scholz, since 2002 as a first soloist. Scholz created several parts for her, e.g. in Bruckner 8, Non, je ne regrette rien and h-Moll- Messe. She also danced Mathilde in Scholz' Le Rouge et le Noir.

In 2004 she became a member of the Bavarian State Ballet, giving her debut with the company in George Balanchine's Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet during the company's guest performances in Athens in June. Her Munich repertoire includes the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty (M. Petipa/I. Liška), Olympia in Neumeier's Lady of the Camellias and prominent solo parts in Forsythe's Limb's Theorem.

Debut 2005/2006
Die Nacht, Pavlova solo (N. Legat)
Marschallin in Die silberne Rose (G.Murphy)
First and third solo in Schattenakt in La Bayadère (P. Bart)
Clémence in Raymonda (R. Barra)
Pas de quatre (L. Jacobson)

Debut 2006/2007
Second Pas de deux in Century Rolls (D. Bombana)
Charlotte, fiancé of Prince Siegfried in Swan lake (R. Barra)
Odaliske and Gulnara in Le Corsaire (M. Petipa, I. Liška)

Debut 2007/2008
Miranda in Der Sturm (J. Mannes), creation
Große Fuge (H. van Manen)
Pas de deux in the fourth movement of  Brahms-Schönberg-Quartett (G. Balanchine)
Adagio Hammerklavier (H. van Manen)
Violakonzert/II (M. Schläpfer), creation
Aus Holbergs Zeit (J. Cranko)

Debut 2008/2009
Mutter in A Cinderella Story (J. Neumeier)
Woman in Blue in Les Biches (B. Nijinska)
Aurora in Once Upon An Ever After (T. Kohler), creation
Marguerite in Die Kameliendame (J. Neumeier)
Zugvögel (J. Kylián), Kreation
Henriette in Raymonda (M. Petipa)

Debut 2010/2011
Bathilde, Myrtha in Gisella-Mats Ek (M.Ek)
Ballerina in Série Noire - A choreographic murder mystery (T. Kohler)
Pas de deux in Artifact (W. Forsythe)
Woman 2 in My Ravel: Whichever Way he Looks... (J. Mannes)
Lykanion in My Ravel: Daphnis and Chloé (T. Kohler)
Lady of the Street in The Taming of the Shrew (J. Cranko)
The Queen Mother in Illusions - Like Swan Lake (J. Neumeier)
Dulcinea in Don Quijote (M. Petipa, new choreography by R. Barra, A. Gorski, Tradition)

Debut 2011/2012
Nieves in Don Quijote (M. Petipa, new choreography by R. Barra, A. Gorski, Tradition)
Five Brahms Waltzes In The Manner Of Isadora Duncan (F. Ashton)

Debut 2012/2013
The Moor's wife in The Moor's Pavane (José Limón)
Soloist 2. suit in Choreartium (L. Massine)
Athena Parthenos in Heroes (T. Kohler)

Zuzana Zahradníková.

First soloist

Zuzana Zahrdaníková was born in Olomouc (Moravia) and trained at the Prague Conservatory. At competitions in Vienna and Budapest she became finalist and danced in several gala-performances. After being an apprentice in season 1999-2000, she joined the Bavarian State Ballet one year later as a corps de ballet dancer. In autum 2004, Zuzana Zahradníková was promoted to soloist, in 2007/2008 to first soloist. Her repertory includes solo roles in La Bayadère (P. Bart), Don Quichote, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (G. Balanchine), the second detail and Limb´s Theorem (W. Forsythe), as well as the White Lady in Raymonda (R. Barra), Helena in Neumeier’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and the fiancée in Kyliáns Svadebka.
She was promoted to first soloist at the beginning of the season 2007/2008.

Debut 2005/2006
Solopartie in Century Rolls (D. Bombana), creation
Myrtha in Giselle (P. Wright)

Debut 2006/2007
Odaliske in Le Corsaire (M. Petipa, I. Liška)
Solopartie in Chamber Symphony (L. Childs)

Debut 2007/2008
Solo-Ariel in Der Sturm (J. Mannes)
Große Fuge (H. van Manen)
White Couple in Katalyse (J. Cranko)

Debut 2008/2009
Sister in A Cinderella Story (J. Neumeier)
Odaliske in Shéhérazade (M. Fokine)
Prudence in Die Kameliendame (J. Neumeier)
Zugvögel (J. Kylián), Kreation

Debut 2009/2010
Lady of the House in Les Biches (B. Nijinska)

Debut 2010/2011
Madame Larina in Onegin (J. Cranko)
Fleur de Farine Fairy and Duchess in Sleeping Beauty (M. Petipa, I. Liška)
Lady of the Street in The Taming of the Shrew (J. Cranko)
Queen Mother in Illusions - like Swan Lake (J. Neumeier)

Debut 2011/2012
Frau Konsulin Stahlbaum/ "La fille du Pharao" in The Nutcracker (J. Neumeier)
Gods and Dogs (J. Kylián)
1. Pas de trois in Goldberg-Variationen (J. Robbins)

Debut 2012/2013
Gamzatti in La Bayadère (M. Petipa/P. Bart)
2. Solo-Girl in Choreartium (L. Massine)

Luisa Díaz González
First Soloist

Luisa Díaz González comes from Switzerland and has Mexican roots. She started training at the School of American Ballet in New York and later went on to the National School of Dance of Mexico (Honors Award) before graduating from the École de Danse de l’Opéra de Paris in 2000.
Whilst still a student, she won several honors, including the gold medal at the Mexican National Dance Competition (1995, 1996, 1997), the Mexican Morelos Award (1997), the gold medal of the French Salle Pleyel Institute of ballet (2000) and in 2001, the Italian “Danza e Danza” Award. During the same year, she received the National Youth Award from the Mexican president.

She danced with the New York City Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet and the National Dance Company of Mexico. From 2001 to 2012 she was a First Soloist at the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, where she danced nearly every leading role. Le Sacre du Printemps, Romeo and Juliet, Serait ce la mort, The Magic Flute, Le Presbytère, Wien, Wien nur du allein or Sonate á trois, as well as many classical parts like The Nutcracker or Swan Lake belong to her repertory.

Luisa Díaz González joined the Bavarian State Ballet as First Soloist in September 2012.

Debut 2012/2013
3. Shade-variation in La Bayadère (M. Petipa/P. Bart)
1. Solo-Girl in Choreartium (L. Massine)