Ballett Dortmund currently consists of 21 dancers coming from 18 nations. Additionally, the NRW Juniorballett, which was founded in 2014 and comprises 12 dancers, is closely associated with Ballett Dortmund. The Junior Ballet provides the opportunity to young dancers to work for a period of two years in a professional environment and to gain work and stage experience by participating in Ballett Dortmund’s productions and also to develop and realize own dance projects.

Under the direction of Xin Peng Wang Ballett Dortmund has become an innovative power in the dance scene of Germany. Wang, who bases his artistic work on neoclassical dance language, counts on the discovery of new (literary) topics and composers for full-length story ballets. Further, the repertoire includes new creations and existing works of renowned choreographers like William Forsythe, Hans van Manen, Mauro Bigonzetti, Christian Spuck, Benjamin Millepied, Alexander Ekman, Cayetano Soto, Edwaard Liang, Douglas Lee, Demis Volpi, Izik Galili, Jacopo Godani, Richard Siegal, Edward Clug, Johan Inger or George Balanchine. Also, the annual International Ballet Galas have become a strong trademark for Dortmund. International stars as Alina Cojocaru, Lucia Lacarra, Iana Salenko, Friedemann Vogel, Steven McRae or Herman Cornejo are regulary guesting in Dortmund.

The idea of interchange is continued in tours and guest performances of Ballett Dortmund in Russia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, France and Sweden and also in cooperation with the Opera de Paris, New York City Ballet or the Hong Kong Ballet. Ballett Dortmund further focuses on offensive cultural work in the social sector, such as the integrative youth platform "Schoolmotions" or the seniors dance theatre project. Further, a summer school with internationally renowned teachers and students from all over the world takes place once a year in the Ballet Centre.

Artistic Director: Xin Peng Wang

Born in Dalian, Peoples Republic of China, XinPeng Wang attended ballet school from 1970 to 1974. He performed as a solo dancer at the Peking Central Dance Company and the Peking Ballet Company, after which he pursued postgraduate education as a choreographer at the Peking Dance Academy from 1985 to 1989. He left China to study modern dance at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany, and continued as a dancer at the Aalto theatre in Essen.

Since 1996 he has been engaged as a choreographer worldwide. His works appear in the repertoire of the National Ballet of Hongkong and Beijing, the Semperopera in Dresden, Het Nationale Ballett Amsterdam, the Royal Ballett Van Vlaanderen Antwerpen, the National Ballett of Lithuania and the National Ballett Ankara.

To state some of his works, Xinpeng Wang was inspired by Bright Chen's "Tibetian Swing" and Tan Dun's "Death and Fire". His choreography was performed by the Ballett of Dortmund and the Royal Ballett Van Vlanderen. In cooperation with the film director Zhang Yimou for the ballet "Raise the Red Lantern" to the music of composer Qigang Chen he has won worldwide acclaim and it has been performed more than 200 times.

He served as director of the Ballett of the Staatstheater Südthüringen in Meiningen, Germany, between 2001 and 2003. After that he went to the Theater of Dortmund, where he has been successfully leading the ballet as a director for more than 12 years. His creations and choreography have been widely appreciated by audiences and critics alike. In July 2014 his longstanding vision of a holistic, future-oriented and sustainable training and education for dance students came true with the realization of the NRW junior ballet. In 2015, Xin Peng Wang was awarded with the Cityring for his service to the city of Dortmund. His contract as ballet director was extended until 2021. Since taking the position as director of Ballet Dortmund in 2003, he has created more than 45 different productions, among them 11 full-length story ballets which he created together with his dramaturg Christian Baier.

Program: Faust Ii - Erlösung!

"All ephemeral is just an allegory."

The story of Faust – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe created his world famous legend as a dramatic dance between the ambition of knowledge and the desire for redemption.

Xin Peng Wang is known for his important choreographic interpretations of literature classics. With this new creation, Wang invites the audience to explore the magical world of this classic parable about humanity. In symbiosis with the spectacular sculptures of artist Li Hui, the choreographer creates extensive moment of ideal classical beauty and touching allegories of today’s world.

Making use of exceptional elaborated costumes, modern visual technique and images ranging from the dark ages to modernity he deals with the hubris of a human being that tries to reach and understand the incomprehensible.