Biography
The Leipzig Ballet, whose origins date back to the late 17th century, is now one of the world’s leading international companies. In the 1940s, Mary Wigman set a milestone with her choreography of Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’, employing stylistic elements of expressive dance. Since the opening of the New Opera House in 1960, almost all major narrative ballets, as well as contemporary choreographic works, have been performed.
A new era began in 1991 with the appointment of Uwe Scholz as ballet director and chief choreographer. His first Leipzig premiere, ‘The Creation’, was followed by symphonic ballets such as ‘The Great Mass’, ‘Seventh Symphony’ and ‘Bruckner 8’, which were performed on tour throughout Europe and Asia. Following the death of Uwe Scholz in 2004, the new ballet director Paul Chalmer set significant new directions, including a three-year Stravinsky cycle.
From the 2010/11 season to 2023/24, Mario Schröder led the company as ballet director and chief choreographer. Prior to this, he held the same positions in Würzburg and Kiel, creating well over 60 choreographies in countries including Japan, the USA, Russia, France and Mongolia, as well as for major German stages such as the Deutsche Oper and Komische Oper Berlin and for the Aalto Ballett Essen. He has collaborated with Ruth Berghaus, Maxim Dessau, Nikolaus Lehnhoff and Uwe Scholz, and is the winner of numerous choreography competitions.
Rémy Fichet took over as Artistic Director of the Leipzig Ballet for the 2024/25 season. His artistic focus is on fostering choreographic innovation whilst continuing to develop classical ballet technique as the foundation for all choreographic exploration. Through collaboration with internationally renowned guest choreographers, the Leipzig Ballet sees itself as a creative laboratory that brings different movement languages and styles into dialogue. Likewise, preserving the legacy of Uwe Scholz is an integral part of Rémy Fichet’s work. The Leipzig Ballet views dance as a narrative form that conveys both concrete stories and works purely through movement, and in doing so continually evolves through constant exchange between choreographers and the ensemble.