Jean-Christophe Maillot

Jean-Christophe Maillot was born in 1960 and studied dance and piano at the Conservatoire National de Région de Tours before moving to the Rosella Hightower International School of Dance in Cannes, where he won the scholarship prize at the Prix de Lausanne in 1977. He was then engaged by John Neumeier at the Hamburg Ballet, where he danced as a soloist in leading roles for five years. An accident brought his dance career to an abrupt end.

In 1983, he was appointed choreographer and director of the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Tours, which he turned into the National Choreographic Center in 1989. He created around twenty ballets for this ensemble and founded the dance festival "Le Chorégraphique" in 1985. In 1987, he created the piece "Le Mandarin Merveilleux" for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, which was a great success.

In 1993, He was appointed Director and Choreographer of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Hanover. By joining Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, he embarked on a new path that quickly led to the maturity and excellence for which this company of 50 dancers has been known for 30 years. He has created almost 45 ballets for the company, some of which - such as "Vers un pays sage" (1995), "Romeo and Juliet" (1996), "Cinderella" (1999), "La Belle" (2001), "Le Songe" (2005), "Altro Canto" (2006), "Faust" (2007), "LAC" (2011), "CHORE" (2013), "Casse-Noisette Compagnie" (2013), "Core meu" (2019), "Coppél-i. A." (2019) - have established the worldwide reputation of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. Several of these works are now part of the repertoire of major international ballet companies such as the Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Korean National Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre and the Béjart Ballet Lausanne. In 2014, Maillot created "La Mégère Apprivoisée" for the Bolshoi Theater Ballet.

Dance in Monaco underwent a major and historic change in 2011. Under the presidency of Her Royal Highness the Princess of Hanover, the Ballets de Monte-Carlo united the ensemble Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, the Monaco Dance Forum and the Princess Grace Academy into a single institution. Jean-Christophe Maillot has been appointed director of this institution, which now combines the excellent quality of an international company, the advantages of a multi-format festival and the potential of a high-level school.