Jean-Christophe Maillot

Jean-Christophe Maillot first studied dance at the Conservatoire National de Région de Tours, then at the Rosella Hightower École Supérieure de Danse in Cannes. After winning the Prix de Lausanne in 1977, he joined the Hamburg Ballet as a Soloist at John Neumeier’s request. In 1983, he was appointed Choreographer and Director of the Ballet du Grand Théâtre in Tours, where he founded Le Chorégraphique Dance Festival in 1985. In 1993, HRH the Princess of Hanover appointed him Artistic Director of Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, where his arrival contributed to placing Les Ballets de Monte Carlo among the world’s top dance companies. Maillot created more than 40 new ballets, including »Vers un pays sage«, »Roméo et Juliette«, »Coppél-i.A.«, and »Ma Bayadère«. Some of these have entered the repertoires of major international companies: Royal Swedish Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, the Ballet of the Teatro alla Scala, and the Ballet of the Paris Opera. His creation of a new production of »The Taming of the Shrew« at the Bolshoi Ballet earned 3 Golden Mask awards. In 2000, he founded the Monaco Dance Forum, which, together with Les Ballets de Monte Carlo Company and the Princess Grace Academy, forms today’s Ballets de Monte Carlo.