Acclaimed Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato, who earlier headed the National Spanish Dance Company, says he will become the new director of the Mikhailovsky Theater ballet troupe in St. Petersburg starting January 1, 2011.
Once Duato said he was giving up the job, he was offered to take charge of four or five ballet companies the world over. He decided on the Mikhailovsky Theater, and said this was the best place, as well as a step forward for him, he said at a press conference at RIA Novosti in Moscow.
Duato also said that during his first year in the Mikhailovsky Theater he would not invite any performers from the outside and his full attention would be on the troupe. According to him, in the future there is the possibility of inviting world famous stars to improve the troupe's prestige.
He said the reason for leaving the National Spanish Dance Company was because the Spanish Culture Ministry "does not show a lot of respect or appreciation to creative people."
Duato's contract with the National Spanish Dance Company expires on July 31.
Nacho Duato will be the first foreigner to lead a Russian ballet company in more than 100 years.
Nacho Duato (full name - Juan Ignacio Duato Barcia) was born January 8, 1957, in Valencia. He studied at the Maurice Bejart's Mudra School in Brussels and started his dancing career in Stockholm's Cullberg Balletand. One year later he joined Nederlands Dans Theater and stayed there for ten years, establishing himself as one of the most popular ballet dancers in the world. His choreographies have been included in the most prestigious international companies.
MOSCOW, July 28 (RIA Novosti)
