Thierry Malandain Choreographer

Biography

Born in 1959, Thierry Malandain trained in classical dance with Jacques Chaurand, Monique Le Dily, René Bon, Daniel Franck, Gilbert Mayer, and Raymond Franchetti. Violette Verdy engaged him at the Paris Opera for the 1977–1978 season. There he met Jean Sarelli, then the master ballet teacher, and followed him when Sarelli took over the Ballet du Rhin. Thierry Malandain then joined the Ballet Théâtre Français de Nancy in 1980. In 1984, he won First Prize at the Volinine competition with Quatuor op3. In 1986, he founded the company Temps Présent in Élancourt. The following season, he received awards from the Fondation de la Vocation and the Fondation Oulmont, won First Prize at the choreography competitions in La Baule and Vaison‑la‑Romaine, and—alongside Angelin Preljocaj and Claude Brumachon in Paris—received the Prix de la Nuit des Jeunes Créateurs. Works such as L’Homme aux semelles de vent (1986), Edgar Allan Poe (1988), and Folksongs (1986) helped establish his reputation. Subsequent works included La Fleur de pierre (1994), L’Après‑midi d’un faune (1995), Ballet mécanique (1996), Sextet (1996), and Casse‑Noisette (1997).

In 1997, the Ministry of Culture and Communication and the city of Biarritz invited him to found in the Basque seaside town the first National Choreographic Centre of classical style. In 1998, the Centre Chorégraphique National – Ballet Biarritz was established.

In 2003, with Les Créatures, Ballet Biarritz took a significant creative step, performing in Paris at the Théâtre national de Chaillot and gaining international recognition including nominations at the Benois de la Danse and awards at the International Ballet Festival in Havana. From 2000 onward, he also directed the Temps d’Aimer festival and, in Donostia‑San Sebastián, founded a cross‑border Junior Ballet. In 2006, he created L’Envol d’Icare for the Ballet of the Paris Opera. Many of Malandain’s eighty works appear in the repertoires of major companies from Caracas to Hong Kong, West Palm Beach, Aspen, Cairo, Riga, Tunis, Karlsruhe, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, the Vienna Staatsoper and Volksoper, as well as French companies such as the Ballet de l’Opéra national du Rhin, Ballet National de Marseille, Ballet de l’Opéra national de Bordeaux, Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse, and more.

In 2009, Thierry Malandain was promoted to Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. A new era began under the name Malandain Ballet Biarritz with creations such as Magifique (2009), Roméo et Juliette (2010), Lucifer (2011), and Cendrillon (2013). In 2017, following performances of Noé, Malandain Ballet Biarritz received the prize for Best Company awarded by the Professional Association of Theatre, Music, and Dance Critics. In 2019, Malandain created Marie‑Antoinette for the Royal Opera of the Palace of Versailles.

That same year, he was elected to the Académie des beaux‑arts, occupying Chair No. 1 in the newly established choreography section alongside Blanca Li, Angelin Preljocaj, and Carolyn Carlson. Subsequent works include The Firebird (2021), Les Saisons (2023), Midnight and a Half or The Mysterious Heart, and High Noon or The Concerto of the Sun (2025).

Currently in

Immerse in the Paris Opera universe

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