2022 Teaching staff


  • Carole Arbo

    A former principal dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet, she danced in the most famous classical ballets. She is now a teacher at the Paris Opera Ballet School. She has been invited to Biarritz for many years due to the popularity of her teaching. She teaches the most famous classical variations in the Repertoire lessons.
  • Bertrand Belem

    Dancer at the Paris Opera, then professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), he began dancing with René Bon. He was promoted to Choryphée in 1987 and then to Subject the following year. He was awarded the bronze medal at the Varna International Competition and the Carpeaux Prize at the Paris Opera. Since 2011, he teaches at the Conservatoire national supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.
  • Isabel Hernandez

    A former dancer at the English National Ballet, she is a teacher at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Danse de Marseille. As a very meticulous and perfectionist person, she provides lessons for the youngest dancers, correcting their mistakes and encouraging them both gently and firmly.
  • Béatrice Legendre-Choukroun

    As a former dancer in numerous companies and a tenured teacher at the conservatoires of Paris, she created a floor barre method developing strength, endurance, suppleness, coordination and body awareness. Through a series of progressive exercises performed lying on the floor, this method helps to sculpt the body, improve the posture, make joints more flexible and tone muscles. She also teaches lessons to preparatory and elementary level participants.
  • Eric Quilleré

    After training at the Opéra de Paris Dance School, he was promoted to ‘Premier Danseur’ (First Soloist) at the Opéra de Paris Ballet, then was recruited as Principal Dancer at the Ballet de Nancy. While continuing his career as a dancer at the Miami City Ballet where he danced most of Balanchine's ballets, he began to revive ballets. He also worked alongside Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Patrick Dupont and Charles Jude. He teaches and organises several summer courses for the Miami City Ballet School, Israel Ballet and Florence Ballet. In 2003, he joined the Ballet Company of the Opéra National de Bordeaux as Ballet Master, before being appointed Director of Dance at the Opéra National de Bordeaux in 2017 at the behest of Marc Minkowski.
  • (Fr) Nolwenn Daniel

    Trained as a classical ballet dancer, she joined the Opéra National de Paris Ballet after studying at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. She was promoted to Coryphée (Corps de ballet), then Sujet (Soloist), before becoming Première Danseuse (First Soloist) and performing many soloist roles in repertoire ballets. She works with the greatest contemporary choreographers and has been teaching at the CNSMDP since 2015.
  • Jason Beechey

    Jason Beechey has been the rector of the Palucca University of Dance Dresden, Germany since 2006. Trained at the National Ballet School of Canada, the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg and the School of American Ballet in New York, he danced as a soloist for the London City Ballet and then for fifteen years with Charleroi/Danses in Belgium. At the same time he was pedagogical director for the Choreographic Center of the Walloon-Brussels Federation and founded and directed his own center, The Loft, and was the creator/coordinator of the D.A.N.C.E. Program under the artistic direction of Frédéric Flamand, William Forsythe, Wayne McGregor and Angelin Preljocaj. In 2009, he joined the Prix de Lausanne as a member of the Artistic Committee, and is now associated with the Prix as a host for the Live Stream; he is also a regular member of the jury of the Youth America Grand Prix and a member of the Interim Management Team - Dance Academy Zurich.
  • Lienz Chang Oliva

    Lienz trained in Cuba and was a principal dancer with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. He continued with an international career in Europe and became a principal dancer with the Ballets of Roland Petit. He later served as artistic director at the Instituto Universitario de Danza Alicia Alonso in Madrid, then ballet master at La Scala in Milan. He is currently Ballet Master and Assistant Choreographer at the Teatro di San Carlos in Naples.

Workshops


  • Dominique Cordemans

    Thierry Malandain choreographies. A former dancer of Thierry Malandain company, she is in charge of passing on the repertoire to pre-professional dancers and conducts various awareness-raising workshops accessible to all throughout the year. The course participants will work on an excerpt of one of the ballets performed by the Malandain Ballet Biarritz during the Academy course week.
  • Urtzi Aranburu

    Choreographies of Jiri Kylian Choreographies of Johan Inger Originally from the Guipuzcoa province in Spain, he danced with the Nederland Dans Theather (Jiri Kylian’s company) for over 10 years before becoming a coach for the choreographer. He shares his expertise with major ballet companies such as the Ballet de Monaco, the Staatsballet in Berlin, La Scala in Milan and the Hubbard Street Dance company in Chicago. He is also a teacher at the Hague Conservatoire.
  • (Fr) Xenia Wiest

    After a career as a professional dancer for nearly 20 years, including 15 years at the Staatsballett Berlin, she became a choreographer and presented her creations internationally. She works with several ballets and companies, participates in various competitions including the Concours de jeunes chorégraphes de Ballet (Young Ballet Choreographers’ Competition) in Biarritz in 2016, which allowed her to create for the Ballet at the Opéra National de Bordeaux. In 2021, she became Artistic Director of her own company, Ballett X Schwerin, in Germany.

Pianists


  • Laurent Choukroun

    Singing teacher at the Paris Opera Ballet School. Professor of piano accompaniment. Founder of Dance Arts Production, a company supporting dance all around the world. www.dance-artsproduction.com Créateur de la plateforme de streaming Idance music https://www.idancemusic.com
  • Alberto Sagardia Ribera

    A pianist at the Royal Academy of Dancing, he works at the Conservatoire of Pamplona / Iruña. Invited as a piano accompanist by various companies such as Malandain Ballet Biarritz and Victor Ullate Company.
  • Pascal Sevajols

    Piano accompanist at the ballet of the Opéra national de Bordeaux and the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Bordeaux. Trainer at the Pôle d'Enseignement Supérieur Musique et Danse Bordeaux Aquitaine for the musical training in the dance sector. Guest pianist of various companies such as the National Ballet of China, the Shanghai Ballet Company and Beijing International Ballet Company.
  • Franck Prévost

    Pianist-composer and professor of classical choreographic accompaniment at the CNSMDP
  • Sylvain Durand

    Classical piano accompanist in ballet classes at the Paris Opera Ballet School and the Conservatoire national supérieur de Musique et de Danse (CNMS) of Paris for more than 25 years. He was awarded three first prizes of the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique (CNSM). He also worked as a keyboardist and choirmaster for Jean-Michel Jarre between 1986 and 1994.
  • (Fr) Marion Rouffaud

    As a ballet piano accompanist at the Maurice Ravel Basque Country Conservatory and “adult” courses at the Académie de la Toussaint in Biarritz, she is invited on a regular basis by various companies such as the Opéra National de Bordeaux Ballet and the Opéra National du Capitole de Toulouse Ballet.