Goyo Mon­te­ro

Born in 1975 in Madrid, Spain. He was formed by Carmen Roche and completed his studies at the Royal Conservatory for Professional Dance in Madrid and the School of the National Ballet of Cuba. Among others he received the following awards as a dancer: Winner of the Prix Lausanne in 1993 and Gold Medal and Grand Prix at the International Ballet Competition of Luxembourg. Critics of Dance Europe Magazine nominated him Best Dancer of the season 2003/2004.

Goyo Montero was Principal Dancer at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Soloist at the Oper Leipzig, Staatstheater Wiesbaden and the Royal Ballet of Flanders. He has been invited among others as guest soloist with the National Ballet of Mexico, the Perth City Ballet and the Ballet d‘Europe.

As choreographer he created pieces for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Royal Ballet London, Zurich Ballet, Staatsballett Hannover, Acosta Danza, Perm Opera Ballet/Diana Vishneva Context Festival, National Ballet Sodre, Maggio Danza, Compañia Nacional de Danza, Deutsche Oper Berlin, National Ballet of Cuba, and the Ballet de Teatres de la Generalitat Valenciana and many others.

With his choreographies Goyo Montero took part in different festivals, amongst others in Havana (XX International Ballet Festival), Florence (71th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino), Granada (International Festival of Dance and Music), Zaragoza (Expo Zaragoza), Madrid (Madrid en Danza and Veranos de la Villa), Tokyo (Expo Aichi Tokio Forum), Russia (Chekhov International Theatre Festival Moscow and Diana Vishneva’s Context Festival) and Holland Dance Festival.

With season 2008/2009 Goyo Montero is ballet director and principal choreographer of Nuremberg Ballet. Until today the ballet director has developed and staged 23 creations for his company in Nuremberg. Since 2019 Goyo Montero is also Resident Choreographer of Acosta Danza.

A long term partnership exists between Goyo Montero and the Prix de Lausanne. Montero participated here for many years, among other things, as coach, jury member and choreographer of two choreografic projects specially designed for the Prix in 2018 ans 2023. Among his awards as Choreographer: In 2006 the award “Villa de Madrid” (the 1st award of the Iberoamerican competition of Choreography), the Villanueva award by the UNEAC (Union of Writers, Critics and Artits of Cuba) and the award “Teatro de Madrid”.

Goyo Montero has received numerous awards, among others the "Villa de Madrid" prize, the 1st prize of the Ibero-American Choreography Competition, the "Villanueva" prize (awarded by the UNEAC Association of Cuban Authors and Journalists), the "Teatro de Madrid" and as a dancer and choreographer the "Premio Nacional de Danza" of the Spanish Ministry of Culture. Goyo Montero was awarded the Culture Prize of the IHK der Mittelfränkischen Wirtschaft (2009) and the Kulturpreis Bayern (2014). Under the direction of Goyo Montero, the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett was awarded the "German Dance Prize" for "outstanding development in dance" in 2018. In 2023, Goyo Montero received the award "Pro meritis scientiae et litterarum" from the Bavarian State Minister for Science and the Arts to honor outstanding personalities for their services to science and art.

Photo © Julia Puder