Ivan Gil-Ortega

The Prix de Lausanne is to my understanding the most prestigious ballet competition in the world and as it was for me at the time I think it is very good as the first real international experience for the candidates because of all the people involved and because it opens big opportunities that can start your professional career.

I have accepted to be the Vice President of the jury with great pleasure because I believe that if we can make an impact in the ballet world today with a competition of this level it should be always with the younger generations to come, and I feel honoured to be part of such a great event this year.

Ivan Gil-Ortega was born on 1977 in Madrid, Spain, and began his career in 1995. During his 12-year career at the Stuttgart Ballet, Ivan Gil-Ortega, who became a Soloist in 1996 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2001, danced in a wide range of classical and contemporary ballets and worked with many of the leading choreographers, including Marcia Haydée, Hans van Manen, John Neumeier, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Christian Spuck, Douglas Lee, etc. He danced the leading roles of John Cranko’s works, such as Onegin, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake.

Gil-Ortega was well known for his compelling interpretation of characters, his elegance and especially for his partnering skills. He performed as a guest artist with many ensembles including the Ballet of Santiago de Chile, le Bayerisches Staatsballet de Munich, the Finnish National Ballet, the Croatian National Ballet, the West Australian Ballet, Ballet del Teatro Massimo de Palermo, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro de l’Arena di Verona, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli. Nuremberg Staatsballet, Universal Ballet of Corea, national Ballet of Corea and the Slovenian National Ballet.

In 2007 he joined the Dutch National Ballet as a Principal dancer. From the beginning of 2008, he combined dancing with his current activity as ballet assistant and ballet stager, working with Christian Spuck (Ballet Director of the Zurich Ballet), Goyo Montero (Ballet Director of the Nuremberg Ballet), Derek Deane (ex-director of the English National Ballet) and Carlos Acosta (International Ballet star). In 2009, Ivan Gil-Ortega was awarded the “Premio Positano de Danza – Léonide Massine”.