Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich

For more than ten years now the Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich - the Junior Company of the Bayerisches Staatsballett - has been offering young dancers the opportunity to grow into professional performers after completing their studies. The ensemble consists of 16 dancers between 17 and 20 years and forms an important bridge between the end of training and the beginning of a professional career. During the two years, that the young members dance in the company, artistic director Ivan Liška and training and rehearsals manager Olivier Vercoutère prepare them intensively every day for their professional career.

As the first Junior Company in Germany, the Bayerisches Junior Ballett was formed in 2010 as an innovative partnership between Munich’s biggest dance institutions. The Heinz Bosl Foundation is the central coordinator in this cooperation with the Bayerisches Staatsballett and the Ballet Academy of the “University of Music and Performing Arts” in Munich. The initiative owes its existence to Konstanze Vernon, Bettina Wagner-Bergelt, Jan Broeckx and Ivan Liška.

As cultural ambassadors of the Free State of Bavaria and the city of Munich, the young ensemble not only successfully performs at the National Theatre in Munich, but on stages across the whole of Germany, Europe and worldwide.

You’ll find all information about the Junior Ballet’s dates, history and sponsors as well as ensemble video portraits on the Heinz Bosl Foundation’s website.

The repertoire of the company includes both important classical, neoclassical and contemporary works from the international canon and commissioned works by young and established choreographers.

This requires a protected environment in which the young dancers can experiment and feel free to make mistakes – a repertoire that supports and promotes them, a stage experience to help them grow. Big and small stages, welcoming and critical audiences, calm and stress before the performances. So many little tests of courage. And of course, people that empathetically accompany them along this path.

Thanks to the support of its ambassador Dr. Irène Lejeune, the Heinz Bosl Foundation also offers the young performers a comprehensive and wide-ranging repertoire. The demanding works of renowned choreographers such as George Balanchine, August Bournonville, Nacho Duato, Jiří Kylián, Hans van Manen and Marius Petipa allow them access to diverse forms of ballet and dance. 

The young performers’ future paths are distilled and shaped further by developing new creations with selected choreographers, such as Aszure Barton, Caroline Finn, Eric Gauthier, Jörg Mannes or Richard Siegal. Regular appearances with the Bayerisches Staatsballett on the stage of the National Theatre, as part of the cooperation, provide the young dancers the stage experience they crave.

The invigorating young company has already danced its way into the hearts of audiences far beyond Bavaria’s borders: As cultural ambassadors of the Free State of Bavaria and the city of Munich the ensemble has to date performed on stages across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Israel and Hong Kong. 

The youthful vigour with which the young dancers conquer the stage is a  unique feature for audiences and critics alike. In return, the ensemble members benefit from the multitude of guest performances, with which they gather stage experience.mThey push their self-confidence and experience, which allows them to be engaged by the best ensembles all over the world. Today, former members of the Bayerisches Junior Ballett Munich dance with the Bayerisches Staatsballett, the Stuttgart Ballet, the Hamburg Ballet,, the Ballet of Difference at Schauspiel Köln, and in Helsinki, Oslo, Prague, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Seoul, Pilsen, Graz, Wiesbaden, Antwerp, Berlin, Warsaw, Ostrava, Vienna, Saarbrücken, Magdeburg, Brno, Flensburg, Innsbruck, Essen, Leipzig, San Francisco and Paris.