Goyo Montero

About his participation as jury member in 2017

My connection with the Prix de Lausanne goes back to 1994, when I won the professional level prize as a young dancer. Since then, I have had the honor of being invited to participate in the Prix several times as a coach and jury member (in 2012).
My choreography has been part of the repertoire several times and I have even created two solos exclusively for the Prize. I am more than proud and grateful for this long history together and look forward to being part of this year’s jury.

Goyo Montero was born in Madrid in 1975. He initially trained with Carmen Roche and at the Royal Conservatory of Professional Dance in Madrid and then completed his training at the Cuban National Ballet School under the direction of Alicia Alonso.

His extensive career as a dancer began at the age of 17 in the English National Ballet and continued later as a soloist at the Leipzig Opera, in the ballet of the Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden, in the Royal Ballet of Flanders and as first soloist at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Among the honours he has received in his career as a dancer are a Prize at the Prix de Lausanne in 1994 and the Grand Prix and Gold Medal of the Luxembourg International Dance Competition in 1996. Critics from Dance Europe Magazine nominated him as “Best Dancer” of the 2003/2004 season. In 2011, the Spanish Ministry of Culture honoured the choreographer and dancer with the “Premio Nacional de Danza” in the interpretation category.

As choreographer, Goyo Montero has created 25 productions for his company, the Staatsballett Nürnberg, and has also created for companies such as the Royal Ballet London, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Acosta Danza (whose house choreographer he is), the National Ballet Finland,BAllet del teatro Colo-Buenos Aires, the Sao Paulo Compania de Danza, the Perm Opera Ballet/Diana Vishneva Context Festival, Ballet Nacional de Sodre – Uruguay, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Cuban National Ballet, the Ballet Kiel, the Ankara State Ballet among others .

He has been honoured with numerous awards for his choreographies, including the “Villa de Madrid” prize, 1st prize in the Ibero-American Choreography Competition, the “Villanueva” prize (awarded by the UNEAC Association of Cuban Authors and Journalists), the “Teatro de Madrid” , the Cultural Prize of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Central Franconia and the Bavarian Culture Prize .

As director, Goyo Montero has 17 years of experience in directing the Nuremberg State Ballet, the second largest ballet company in Bavaria that he directed from 2008 till 2025.

Under his direction, the Nuremberg State Ballet has received numerous awards. In 2018, the company under ballet director Goyo Montero was honoured with the German Dance Award in the “Current” category for “outstanding development in dance”. In 2023, Goyo Montero received the “Pro meritis scientiae et litterarum” award from the Bavarian State Minister for Science and the Arts, one of the highest honours bestowed by the cultural state of Bavaria in recognition of outstanding personalities for their services to science and the arts. In 2024 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Bavaria.

From season 2025/2026 he is the Director of the Staatsballett Hannover .

Goyo Montero has a long-standing relationship with the Prix de Lausanne: as a member of the jury, coach and choreographer of two Partner School Choreographic Projects (2018 and 2023)

About the Partner School Choreographic Project

This wonderful initiative comes from Shelly Power. Ideally, the project has a dual purpose: to create a full-fledged piece and to show young artists the process of choreographic creation. I love working with young talent who are generally unprejudiced, willing to open up and assert themselves.
It will be an exciting challenge to work together with the same objective: to create this piece in record time.
I am really looking forward to this unique experience!