Thierry Malandain

The author of 80-plus dance works, Thierry Malandain was born on 13 April 1959 in Petit-Quevilly. Before his career as a performer with the Opéra de Paris, the Ballet du Rhin and the Ballet Théâtre Français de Nancy, he was taught by Monique Le Dily, René Bon, Daniel Franck, Gilbert Mayer and Raymond Franchetti. During these six years in Lorraine, he enjoyed success with his first experiences as a choreographer: in 1984, he won first prize in the Concours Volinine with Quatuor op3; then in 1985 and 1986, succeeding Maguy Marin, he won first prize at the Concours de Nyon, Switzerland, with Sonatine then Métamorphosis. In 1986, Thierry Malandain left the Ballet Théâtre Français de Nancy with eight dancers and founded Compagnie Temps Présent, which settled in Élancourt. The very next season, he was awarded prizes by the Fondation de la Vocation and the Fondation Oulmont, and won also first prizes in the choreography competitions of La Baule and Vaison-la-Romaine; and in Paris, with Angelin Preljocaj and Claude Brumachon, won the Prix de la Nuit des Jeunes Créateurs. At the invitation of Jean-Louis Pichon, director of what would become L’Esplanade in Saint-Etienne, Cie Temps Présent held a residency there from 1991-1997. Then, in 1997, the choreographer received a proposal from the Ministry of Culture and Communication and the City of Biarritz to found, in the Basque seaside resort, the first-ever classical-style National Choreography Centre (CCN). In September of the following year, the Centre Choreographique National - Ballet Biarritz came to life in the converted Gare du Midi train station. Starting in 2000, Thierry Malandain headed the festival Le Temps d’Aimer for five years, returning as artistic director in 2008. In 2003, with Les Créatures, to music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Ballet Biarritz reached a major creative milestone: for the first time, thanks to Dominique Hervieu and José Montalvo, the company performed officially in Paris (at the Théâtre National de Chaillot); while in Moscow, Les Créatures was a Benois de la Danse nominee, and in Cuba received the critics’ award at the 19th International Ballet Festival of Havana. In 2005 and 2006, Malandain created Les Petits Riens (2005) to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; and Don Juan (2006) to a score by Christoph Willibald Gluck; and, to music by Alfred Schnittke, he produced his first commission for the Ballet de l’Opéra National de Paris, L’Envol d’Icare (2006). In August 2009, Thierry Malandain was promoted to the rank of Officer in France’s Order of Arts and Letters. A new era began for the choreographer, with a renamed company: Malandain Ballet Biarritz. Then came Magifique (2009), to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; and Roméo et Juliette (2010), to music by Hector Berlioz. In 2012, the Opéra de Reims commissioned a ballet from Thierry Malandain; given carte blanche, the choreographer took the chance to explore another musical world, creating Une Dernière chanson set to traditional French songs performed by Vincent Dumestre’s ensemble Le Poème Harmonique. This piece earned the Grand Prix (dance category) of the Syndicat de la Critique Théâtre, Musique et Danse. In 2013, at the request of Laurent Brunner, director of the Opéra Royal de Versailles, the choreographer created Cendrillon to Sergei Prokofiev’s score; Cendrillon received a warm critical and popular reception and, in 2014 in Berlin, the piece earned Thierry Malandain the best choreographer prize at the Taglioni European Ballet Awards, bestowed by the Malakhov Foundation. In 2017, after the performances of his new piece Noé at Chaillot-Théâtre National de la Danse, Malandain Ballet Biarritz received the best company award bestowed by the Association Professionnelle de la Critique de Théâtre, de Musique et de Danse. In 2019, Thierry Malandain was appointed to the Académie des Beaux-Arts (choreography section) alongside Blanca Li and Angelin Prejlocaj. In 2020, he was awarded the Prix SACD for choreography.