Junior Ballet - Objectives, training concept & first result

Objectives

Spoerli’s arrival ushered in a new era for Zurich Ballet as a leading company – both in Switzerland and abroad. The ensemble’s artistic and dancing qualities are demonstrated by the great interest consistently shown by audiences and the very positive reviews of new productions and guest performances. In terms of quantity, further development is restricted, as it is practically impossible to increase the number of performances at the Opera House. Together with the company’s approximately 40 guest performances, a very large number of performances have already been reached for a ballet troupe affiliated to an opera house. For this reason, Zurich Ballet was unable to accommodate requests from many of the smaller theatres and numerous festivals. One important task of a top company is to promote young dancers. Public auditions have shown that the level achieved so far cannot be maintained solely by engaging new dancers; the new generation of young dancers must also be cultivated.

Training concept

Since joining the Opera House in 1996, Heinz Spoerli has endeavoured to ensure that talented young dancers have consistently been promoted; for example, he was the Artistic Director of the Swiss Professional Ballet School until it was incorporated into the Zurich University of the Arts. Students are integrated into current productions, a development that led to the creation of an institutionalised intermediate level and, in 2001, to the foundation of the Junior Ballet – the third form of practical training for the next generation at Zurich Opera House besides the International Opera Studio and the Orchestra Academy. Members of the Junior Ballet, who do not remain in the Zurich ensemble for longer than two years, are supposed to take advantage of the transitional period between the end of their training and entering full professional life by training with the troupe, learning to assert themselves within it, dancing in the choreographies of the repertoire – and through additional coaching from Ballet Master Chris Jensen and the dancer François Petit. In addition to their ballet training, which they complete together with the Zurich Ballet, members of the Junior Ballet also have the opportunity to take part in performances given by the main company, and thus to gain stage experience. As he already did with “Peter and the Wolf”, Heinz Spoerli develops special choreographies with which the junior troupe dances their own performances on the main stage of the Opera House. Spoerli sees great development potential in his choreographic work with junior dancers, since it enables him to react to the enormous changes taking place in dance. The experience gained is further intensified by the Junior Ballet’s numerous tours. The young dancers have now not only presented themselves in Switzerland, but also to international audiences in Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and at the EXPO 2005 in Japan.

First results

To be young and already internationally famous: the junior company of the renowned Zurich Ballet managed to achieve what is out of the question elsewhere – right from the very beginning. The press has expressly paid tribute to Heinz Spoerli’s commitment to promoting young dancers, and reviewers have also been highly appreciative of the Junior Ballet’s performances. The first former members of the Junior Ballet have now have joined Zurich Ballet, while others very rapidly found engagements with other renowned ballet companies.