Ben Van Cauwenbergh

Born in Antwerp (Belgium) in 1958, the choreographer received his first engagement as a dancer with the Royal Ballet of Flanders. From 1978 to 1984, he was principal soloist at the London Festival Ballet, moving to the Stadttheater Bern as principal soloist in 1987 and then to the Lucerne Theatre in 1989, where he took over as director of the ballet department in 1990. From 1992 to 2007, he held the same position at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. From 2008 to 2024, he worked at the Aalto Theatre Essen, first as ballet director and from 2013 as ballet artistic director. Important choreographies include Cirque du ballet (1999), Maria de Buenos Aires (2003), Tanzhommage an Queen (2009) and most recentlySmile (2023), a homage to Charlie Chaplin, created together with Armen Hakobyan.