Ballet Graz

Dirk Elwert / Ballet Director

Dirk Elwert studied theatre studies at the University of Cologne. He completed his acting training at the Zurich School of Dance and Theatre and the Neue Münchner Schauspielschule, after which he performed on various stages in Hanover and at the Heilbronn Theatre. In 1992, he became ballet dramaturge at the Nuremberg Municipal Theatre. In 1996, he founded TANZWERK as a forum for contemporary dance/ballet in Nuremberg and became its administrative director. From 1999 to 2001, he worked as manager of the Tanztheater Basel.

In 2001/02, Dirk Elwert moved to the Oldenburg State Theatre and took over the management of the dance company there. From 2002-2016, as artistic project manager for The.Lab Art & Media in Berlin, he was responsible for tours of international dance companies (including Limon Dance Company New York, Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, Szeged Contemporary Ballet, Spellbound Contemporary Ballet Rome) and the festivals ‘Ballett Tage Oldenburg’, ‘Würzburg tanzt’ and the Heidelberg Dance Biennale. He was a jury member of the ballet and choreography competitions Academia Nazionale di Danza Rome, Festival Solocoreografico Turin, Ursula Cain Prize / Dance Prize of the Free State of Saxony and the International Competition for Choreography Hanover.

Dirk Elwert has been ballet director at Graz Opera since the 2023/24 season.