Centre chorégraphique national Malandain Ballet Biarritz

Direction Thierry Malandain

As a dancer, Thierry Malandain has a traditional background with unique and distinctive features.

He studied under Jacques Chaurand, Monique Le Dily, René Bon, Daniel Franck, Gilbert Mayer and Raymond Franchetti. Violette Verdy, who chaired the Lausanne competition to which he participated in 1978, hired him at the Opéra National de Paris for the 1977/1978 season. During this period, he met Jean Sarelli and followed him when Sarelli took over the Ballet du Rhin. Thierry Malandain stayed in Mulhouse until 1980, then joined the Ballet Théâtre Français in Nancy, led by Hélène Traïline and Jean-Albert Cartin, until 1986. This is where he took his first steps as a choreographer. In 1986, he left the Ballet Théâtre with eight dancers and created the company Temps Présent, settling in Élancourt, near Paris. Works such as l’Homme aux semelles de vent (1986) which became Les Illuminations (1989) for dancer Patrick Dupond and the Ballet National de Nancy, and Folksongs (1986), made his reputation.

Since then, he has been dedicated to developing his own choreographic writing, by advocating his love for the classical vocabulary. In 1991, his company Temps Présent began a six-year partnership with the Maison de la Culture in Sainte-Étienne. In September 1998, he was appointed director of the CCN—Ballet Biarritz, which was based at the Gare du Midi. In 2000, he established the junior cross-border ballet Donostia—San Sebastián, in collaboration with the Spanish Basque city. From 2004, the CCN began organising numerous annual performances, especially abroad. In August 2009, the CCN was renamed “Malandain Ballet Biarritz”. To date, Thierry Malandain has created more than 80 works, including 20 that are part of the CCN’s repertoire. In 2020, he was awarded the SACD Prize for choreography.