All-Star Ballet Gala

JINHAO ZHANG
Principal Ballet Dancer, Bayerisches Staatsballet

Born in 1995 in Dalian, China, and raised in Shanghai, Jinhao Zhang began his formal dance education at Tongji University, Shanghai. In 2009 danced and acted as a young student in Mao’s Last Dancer, an Australian film based on professional dancer Li Cunxin's 2003 autobiographical memoir of the same name. Zhang’s talent was recognized early: he won Silver Medal at the Genée International Ballet Competition (2011), won the Prix de Lausanne (2013), and claimed both the Silver Medal and the Best Choreography Award at the Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition (2015).

In 2013, he joined the English National Ballet School and, the following year, became a member of the English National Ballet. His potential was further acknowledged when he won the Emerging Dancer Award in 2015. Seeking new challenges, Zhang joined the Bayerisches Staatsballett in the 2017/18 season as Demi-Soloist. He quickly ascended the ranks, becoming a Soloist in 2018/19 and earning the prestigious title of Principal Dancer in the 2021/22 season.

Renowned for his versatility, Zhang’s repertoire includes iconic roles such as Albrecht in Giselle, Siegfried/Rothbart in Swan Lake, Onegin’s title role (John Cranko), Des Grieux in The Lady of the Camellias, and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, and lead roles in Spartacus (Yuri Grigorovich), Anna Karenina (Christian Spuck), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (John Neumeier). He has also danced in contemporary pieces including Alexei Ratmansky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Russell Maliphant’s Broken Fall and collaborated with the choreographers to create Andrey Kaydanovskiy’s Cecil Hotel, Aszure Barton’s Fantastic Beings, Annabelle Ochoa’s Broken Wings, and Akram Khan’s Giselle.

MADISON YOUNG
Principal Dancer, Bayerisches Staatsballet

Madison Young was born in Utah, USA. She received her education at Ballet West Academy and Houston Ballet Academy in Texas. At the Prix de Lausanne in 2016, she received the Beau Rivage Palace Second Place Award and accepted an apprenticeship for Houston Ballet in the season 2016/17, where she was promoted to group dancer in 2017. In the 2017/18 season, she joined the Wiener Staatsballet as a Corps de Ballet dancer under the direction of Manuel Legris. In 2018, she was promoted to Soloist and in 2019, to First Soloist. At the beginning of the 2020-21, she joined the Bayerisches Staatsballet as First Soloist. In December 2021 she was promoted to Principal.

Young’s roles include Tatiana in Onegin (John Cranko), the title roles in La Sylphide (Pierre Lacotte), Giselle (Peter Wright), Cinderella (Christopher Wheeldon), and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Wheeldon). She has also performed Odette/Odile in Swan Lake (Ray Barra), Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (John Cranko), Miranda in Tchaikovsky Overtures (Alexei Ratmansky), and Hippolyta/Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream (John Neumeier).

ELISA BADENES
Principal Dancer, Stuttgart Ballet

Elisa Badenes was born in Valencia, Spain. She attended the Conservatorio Profesional de Danza de Valencia. At the Prix de Lausanne in 2008 she won a scholarship for the Royal Ballet School from which she graduated one year later. In the 2009 she joined the Stuttgart Ballet and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2013.

Her repertory includes a wide range of leading roles including Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Tatiana in Onegin and Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew (all by John Cranko), the title role in Giselle (after Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, Marius Petipa), Lise in La fille mal gardée (Frederick Ashton), Kitri in Don Quixote (Maximiliano Guerra after Petipa), Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty (Marcia Haydée after Petipa), Marguerite Gautier in The Lady of the Camellias, Desdemona in Othello and Stella in A Streetcar named Desire (all John Neumeier), Mary Vetsera in Mayerling (Kenneth MacMillan), Effi in La Sylphide (Peter Schaufuss after August Bournonville) and the solo The Dying Swan (after Michel Fokine). In addition, she has danced solo roles in ballets by George Balanchine, John Cranko, Edward Clug, Jorma Elo, William Forsythe, Johan Inger, Jiří Kylián, Kenneth MacMillan, Hans van Manen and Jerome Robbins.

Choreographers such as Fabio Adorisio, Mauro Bigonzetti, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, David Dawson, Marco Goecke, Shaked Heller, Johan Inger, Katarzyna Kozielska, Douglas Lee, Wayne McGregor, Christian Spuck, Louis Stiens and Demis Volpi have created roles for her. In 2016 Demis Volpi created the title role in his Salome for her and in 2022 Edward Clug created the leading role of Clara in The Nutcracker for her.

Badenes has received several honors and prizes including the Gold medal of the Youth American Grand Prix, the Audience Choice Award of the Erik Bruhn Competition in Toronto in 2011 and the German Dance Prize Future in 2015. In 2023 she was awarded “Dancer of the Year” by the “Dance Europe” magazine.

In December 2023 she was awarded the national title of "Kammertänzerin".

MARTÍ PAIXÀ
Principal Dancer, Stuttgart Ballet

Born in Reus, Catalonia, Spain, Paixà attended a private ballet school in his hometown, before joining the John Cranko Schule in Stuttgart, from which he graduated in 2014. In the 2014/15 season he became an Apprentice with the Stuttgart Ballet and was soon taken into the Corps de Ballet. His career quickly rocketed: in 2016, he was promoted to Demi Soloist and the following year, to Soloist. He became a Principal Dancer at the beginning of the 2021/22 season.

Paixà successfully participated in various competitions: he won scholarships for the John Cranko School in Stuttgart and for the Heinz Bosl Foundation in Munich. He also took part in the Rosetta Mauri International Competition in May 2011. In June of the same year, he participated in the International Dance Competition of Ribarroja (Valencia), where he won second prize in the highest category.

Paixà is known for his technical brilliance, dramatic range and fantastic partnering skills and his signature roles include the lead in The Taming of the Shrew and Onegin (Cranko), Sleeping Beauty (Haydée), and Lady of the Camellias (Neumeier). Demis Volpi created the title role in The Soldier’s Tale especially for him.

This season Martí debuted as Romeo in Cranko’s version of the Shakespeare classic and was invited to participate in the prestigious Roberto Bolle and Friends Gala in Torino.

RYOICHI HIRANO
Principal Dancer, The Royal Ballet

Japanese dancer joined the Company as a Prix de Lausanne apprentice in 2001 and became an Artist in 2002, promoted to First Artist in 2007, Soloist in 2008, First Soloist in 2012 and Principal in 2016.

Hirano was born in Osaka and trained at Setsuko Hirano Ballet School. Awards include the 2001 Prix de Lausanne Gold Medal. His repertory with The Royal Ballet includes Rasputin (Anastasia Act III) Albrecht (Giselle), Prince Siegfried (Swan Lake), Prince Florimund (The Sleeping Beauty), Leontes and Polixenes (The Winter’s Tale), Espada and Gamache (Don Ǫuixote), Tybalt, Paris and Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Onegin (Onegin), Jean de Brienne (Raymonda Act III), Crown Prince Rudolf (Mayerling), Prince (The Prince of the Pagodas, The Nutcracker), Rasputin and Officer (Anastasia), Witch (Hansel and Gretel), Robert Wood (Sweet Violets), Black Knight (Checkmate), Dr Samuel-Jean Pozzi (Strapless), Soldier (Different Drummer), Human (‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café), Fate (Acosta’s Carmen), Creature (Frankenstein), Solor, Lt. Colonel Vershinin (Winter Dreams), Ivan Tsarevich (The Firebird) and roles in Corybantic Games, Elite Syncopations, After the Rain, Woolf Works, Song of the Earth, The Two Pigeons, Gloria, Concerto, Chroma, Viscera, ‘Emeralds’ and ‘Diamonds’ (Jewels), Serenade, DGV: Danse à grande vitesse, Scènes de ballet, Voluntaries, Cinderella, Aeternum Within The Golden Hour, Multiverse, Medusa and Corybantic Games.

Hirano’s role creations for the Company include in Gemma Bond's Boundless, Asphodel Meadows and in Wayne McGregor’s The Dante Project, Infra and Obsidian Tear.

MELISSA HAMILTON
First Soloist, Royal Ballet

Melissa Hamilton is a First Soloist of The Royal Ballet. She joined the Company in 2007 as an Artist and was promoted to First Artist in 2009, Soloist in 2010 and First Soloist in 2013. She created a role in Wayne McGregor’s Infra in 2008 and has since created several roles for McGregor, including in Untitled, 2023, Yugen, Woolf Works, Limen, Carbon Life, Human Seasons, Acis and Galatea and The Dante Project. She also created role in Robert Binet's Dark with Excessive Bright, Kyle Abraham's Optional Family: A Divertissement. In the 2015/16 and 2016/17 Seasons she took a leave of absence from The Royal Ballet to dance with Semperoper Ballett, Dresden, as a principal making role debuts as Nikiya, Princess Aurora and Odette/Odile.

Hamilton was born in Belfast and grew up in Dromore, County Down. She began dancing aged four and trained at the Jennifer Bullick School of Ballet. Aged 16 she trained at the Elmhurst School of Dance for two years and then privately with Masha Mukhamedov in Athens. She won the 2007 Youth American Grand Prix and that year entered The Royal Ballet.

In addition to her role creations for McGregor, her roles with The Royal Ballet include the titular role in Manon, Fairy Godmother, Fairy Summer (Cinderella), Paulina (The Winter's Tale), Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), Mary Vetsera (Mayerling), Raven Girl, the Sugar Plum Fairy (The Nutcracker), Queen of the Dryads (Don Quixote), Olga (Onegin), the Lilac Fairy and Princess Florine (The Sleeping Beauty), Terpsichore (Apollo), Bethena Waltz and Alaskan Rag (Elite Syncopations) lead roles in Requiem, The Dante Project and roles in Qualia, Corybantic Games, Swan Lake, Monotones II, Afternoon of a Faun, Symphonic Variations, ‘Rubies’ (Jewels), Fool’s Paradise, Requiem, Tryst, Las hermanas, Agon, Gloria, DGV: Danse à grande vitesse, Serenade, The Concert, The Judas Tree, Song of the Earth, The Weathering and Like Water for Chocolate.

Hamilton’ awards include Outstanding Female Performance (Classical) at the 2009 Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards and gold medal in the Eighth International Seoul Ballet Competition in 2011. In 2013 she was part of a group from The Royal Ballet that took part in special gala performances in Derry as part of its celebrations as UK City of Culture, and that year was made an Allianz Arts and Cultural Brand Ambassador for Northern Ireland.

MATHIEU GANIO
Étoile, Opéra National de Paris

Born in Marseille on March 16, 1984, Mathieu Ganio began his dance training at the age of 7, although he had already taken his first steps on stage at the age of 2 in Roland Petit’s ballet Ma Pavlova, alongside his parents, who were also dancers. He continued his education at the École nationale supérieure de Danse de Marseille from 1992 to 1999, then at the Paris Opera Ballet School from 1999 to 2000, after which he joined the Paris Opera Ballet at the age of 17. Each year, he climbs the ranks of the company following the annual promotion competition: Quadrille in 2001, Coryphée in 2002 and Sujet in 2003. On May 20, 2004, following the performance of Nureyev’s Don Quixote (in which he interpreted the role of Basilio), he was named Étoile, at the age of 20 and without passing through the class of 1er danseur.

Since then, he has performed most of the great roles of the classical repertoire, including Prince Désiré in Sleeping Beauty, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, James in La Sylphide, Drosselmeier in The Nutcracker, Albrecht in Giselle, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Onegin in John Cranko’s ballet of the same name. He has danced in ballets by George Balanchine, Jérôme Robbins, Kenneth MacMillan, Maurice Béjart, William Forsythe, Mats Ek, Jiri Kylian and others. He also dances in more contemporary productions and works and participates in creations with great choreographers such as John Neumeier, Pierre Lacotte, Roland Petit, José Martinez, Nicolas Leriche, Saburo Teshigawara, and Marco Goecke. He takes part in numerous tours abroad with the Paris Opera, but also performs regularly at international galas, notably in Japan, and has been invited to dance repertory ballets at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg on several occasions. In 2016, Orianne Moretti created Le Rappel des Oiseaux, a play based on Gogol’s Diary of a Madman.

He received the Benois de la Danse award in 2005 for his interpretation of James in Pierre Lacotte’s La Sylphide, and was named Officier des Arts et Lettres in 2020.

LÉONORE BAULAC
Étoile Danser, Opéra National de Paris

Born in Paris, Franco-Norwegian dancer Léonore Baulac started dancing at the age of four at the Saint-Cloud Conservatory. In 2005, at the age of 15, she was accepted to the Paris Opéra Ballet School.

She entered the Paris Opéra Ballet's corps de ballet in 2008 at the age of 18 and steadily ascended through the ranks: Coryphée in 2013, Sujet in 2015, and Première Danseuse in 2016. Her promotion to Étoile came on December 31, 2016, following her debut as Odette/Odile in Rudolf Nureyev's Swan Lake.

Her repertoire includes leading roles in classical and contemporary works, such as

Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (Nureyev), Marguerite in The Lady of the Camellias (Neumeier), Kitri in Don Quixote (Nureyev), Lise in La Fille mal gardée (Ashton), and the title roles in Giselle and Manon. Baulac has collaborated with acclaimed choreographers, participating in premieres such as Blake Works I (William Forsythe), Clear, Loud, Bright, Forward (Benjamin Millepied), Body and Soul (Crystal Pite), Le Rouge et le Noir (Pierre Lacotte), and Alea Sands (Wayne McGregor).

In 2014, she received the AROP Prize for her achievements.