Goyo Mon­te­ro

Goyo Montero was born in Madrid in 1975. He first trained with Carmen Roche and at the Royal Conservatory of Professional Dance in Madrid and then completed his studies at the Cuban National Ballet School under the direction of Alicia Alonso. His extensive career as a DANCER began at the age of 17 in the English National Ballet and continued later as a soloist at the Leipzig Opera, in the Ballet of the Hessian State Theater Wiesbaden, in the Royal Ballet of Flanders and as First Soloist at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Among the awards he has received in his career as a dancer are the "Prix de Lausanne" in 1994 and the Grand Prix and Gold Medal of the "Luxembourg International Dance Competition" in 1996. Critics from Dance Europe Magazine nominated him as "Best Dancer" of the 2003/2004 season. In 2011, the Spanish Ministry of Culture honored the choreographer and dancer with the "Premio Nacional de Danza" in the interpretation category.

As CHOREOGRAPHER, Goyo Montero has created 25 productions for his company, the Staatsballett Nürnberg, and has also created for companies such as the Royal Ballet London, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, the Zurich Ballet, Acosta Danza (whose house choreographer he is), the National Ballet Finland, the Sao Paulo Compania de Danza, the Perm Opera Ballet/Diana Vishneva Context Festival, Ballet Nacional de Sodre - Uruguay, the Maggio Danza - Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Cuban National Ballet, the Ballet Kiel, the Ankara State Ballet, the Izmir State Ballet, Modern Dance Turkey, Gregor Seyffert and Company, Ballet de Carmen Roche and the Ballet de Teatres de la Generalitat Valenciana.

With his choreographies, Goyo Montero has been invited to several international festivals, including the 20th Havana Ballet Festival, the 71st Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Granada International Dance and Music Festival, the Zaragoza Expo, the Festival de Veranos de la Villa in Madrid, the Expo Aichi in Japan, the Context Festival of Diana Vishneva and the Holland Dance Festival.

Goyo Montero has a long-standing relationship with the Prix de Lausanne: as a regular member of the jury, choreographer and artistic director of two choreographic projects (2018 and 2023) with selected students from the Prix de Lausanne's partner schools (premieres of "Pulse" and "Bold"). He has received numerous awards for his choreography, including the prize Teatro de Madrid” (2004) "Villa de Madrid" prize (2006), 1st prize in the Ibero-American Choreography Competition (2006), the "Villanueva" prize (awarded by the UNEAC Association of Cuban Authors and Journalists (2006)) and the Culture Award Bavaria (2014).

Goyo Montero dedicated his first work as an opera director to "The Magic Flute", at the invitation of State Director Jens-Daniel Herzog at the Nuremberg Opera. BR-Klassik nominated the production as best Bavarian music theater premiere of 2024.

As DIRECTOR, Goyo Montero has 17 years of experience in directing the Nuremberg State Ballet, the second largest ballet company in Bavaria, which employs 24 dancers and presents an average of 45 performances per season. Since the 2008/2009 season, Goyo Montero has created 25 of his own productions with great success with audiences and the press. In the The Nuremberg company has toured successfully, including in Biarritz and as a partner company at the "Prix de Lausanne". At the invitation of the Moscow International Chekhov Theater and Dance Festival, the Nuremberg Ballet performed Montero's "Cinderella" in Moscow in 2015.

As Director he has received numerous awards, including the Cultural Award of the Franconian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Bavaria) in 2008. German Dance Prize in the "Current" category for "outstanding development in dance”in 2018. Also this year, Goyo Montero was voted best ballet director, “director of the year” in the "Dance Europe" critics' poll. In 2023, Goyo Montero received the "Pro meritis scientiae et litterarum" award from the Bavarian State Minister for Science and the Arts, one of the highest recognitions of the cultural state of Bavaria to honour outstanding personalities for their services to science and the arts. In 2024, Bavarian Minister President Markus Söder honored ballet director Goyo Montero for his outstanding services to the Free State of Bavaria.

AWARDS: Goyo Montero has been recognised several times in international dance magazines both as a choreographer (including "Choreographer of the Year 2014" in Dance for You) and for his works (nominations for best choreography in each case including 2008 for "Sleeping Beauty" as "Best Italian Production of the Year 2008" by Danza & Danza; for his ballet "Romeo and Juliet" with the Compañia Nacional de Danza in Dance for You and Dance Europe (2012/2013); for "Black Bile" (2014), "Cyrano" (2015) and "Don Quixote" (2017) in Dance Europe. In Dance Europe's "Critics' Choice" 2018, Goyo Montero was nominated for Best Ballet Director. In 2020, Deutsche Bühne nominated Montero's choreography "Sacre" among the best dance productions in the season review of the year. In the 2022 season review of this publication, Goyo Montero was honoured both for his work with the company and for his creation "Submerge" in the "Ballet/Dance" category. Goyo Montero's "Ship of Fools" was nominated by "Dance Europe" in the "Best Premieres" category in 2022. In 2023, the same magazine Monteros honoured "Goldberg" in this category. In the same year, Montero was honoured by TANZ magazine in the "Most Interesting Choreographer" category and in the annual review of the “Deutsche Bühne”. In 2024, the Nuremberg Ballet under the direction of Goyo Montero was nominated as “Company of the Year” in the critics' survey for TANZ magazine.

Photo © Julia Puder