Josu Zabala

Biography

He began his dance studies in Bilbao and Madrid, and continued his education in dance at Maurice Béjart’s Mudra International School.
In 1985, he started his career as soloist in the classical repertoire with the Ballet Monte Carlo Company. In 1987 he joined the Béjart Ballet, Lausanne, appearing in many of this choreographer’s ballets. Three years later he began working with Jean-Christophe Maillot at the Centre Chorégraphique National de Tours, where he danced in many of Maillot’s creations and where the latter also gave him the opportunity to create his first pieces.

Joining the Ballet National de l’Opéra de Lyon in 1992, he danced, among other works, in ballets by Bill T. Jones, William Forsythe, Angelin Preljocaj, Maguy Marin, Mats Ek, Nacho Duato. He also created two new pieces of his own for the Company.

Equally interested in the transmission of his art, in 1994 he was awarded a state diploma as professor of dance and created two ballets for the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon where later on he would lead several choreographic workshop sessions. As a result of this experience with young dancers, he created two modern variations for the Prix de Lausanne. He coached the competitors for the Prize in 2001, 2002 and 2003. In the same period he created a new piece for the Uzès Festival.

In 2000, he ‘refound’ Jean-Christophe Maillot who was now Choreographer Director of the Ballets de Monte Carlo and who this time gave him the position of Company Répétiteur.

Insatiably curious, Zabala is equally passionate about the cinema and, in 2005, he was granted a diploma by the Nuova Università del Cinema e della Televisione, at Cinecittà, Rome.

In 2006 he was engaged to coach the young competitors for the Tremplin Jeunes Ballets programme, a prestigious dance competition which streamlines the audition process by enabling young dancers to demonstrate their skills to Company directors, under the aegis of the Monaco Dance Forum. In 2007, he worked with Maillot on the latter’s first opera production Faust, at Wiesbaden.

Since 2008, he has also been in charge of planning the tours of guest companies at Ballet Monte Carlo.