THE INTERNET BALLET DATABASE

Ballet Biarritz / Thierry Malandain

U nder the joint initiative of the city of Biarritz and the Ministry of Culture and Communication, the CCN/ Ballet Biarritz was created in September1998. It is then granted the support of the City of Biarritz, the Ministry of Culture and Communication – DRAC Aquitaine, the General Council of the Pyrenees Atlantiques and the Regional Council of Aquitaine. Its
missions were creation, promotion and public awareness events. By 1999, “Open Studio” enabled the company to host other companies and support their artistic work. In 2000, due to the special geographic situation which made it possible, the CCN developed some cross-border choreographic events.These events were funded by the Diputacion Foral de Gipuzkoa and the European funds (Interreg III A). In 2002, the crossborder ambition lead to the creation of the Association Dantzaz and of a Choreographic Public Awareness Centre sited in the city of Donostia – San Sebastian. In 2005 a new impetus supported by  the Diputacion Foral de Gipuzkoa and the Basque Autonomous Government resulted in the creation of Ballet Biarritz Junior which became independent at the end of 2008. Presently, the CCN has set up a partnership with the city of Donostia/
San Sebastian and its theater Victoria Eugenia
for which it receives help from the European
funds (Interreg IV).The CCN/Malandain Ballet Biarritz has now
twenty full-time permanent dancers. An odd number for a CCN with the word Ballet in its name, since a ballet implies couples dancing and so, one would expect an even number. But   that name does not coincide with the number of dancers, it refers to an aesthetic trend. It is therefore a company whose dancers are fully trained in the technique of classical ballet, but whose expression is contemporary through the works of Thierry Malandain. Priority is given to the dancing body, to its strength, its virtuosity    and its sensuality. Whether the form is abstract or narrative,  Man and Dance are at the heart and in the body of Ballet Biarritz.     Accommodated in the former Gare du Midi, the Centre Chorégraphique National Malandain Ballet Biarritz aims to set up a program of development around chosen goals which results in the CCN becoming a major focus of cultural life in the Aquitaine region.