Ivan Gil-Ortega

Ivan is a celebrated ballet professional with over 25 years in the field, holding extensive roles that include Principal Dancer, Assistant Director, Artistic Consultant, Freelance Rehearsal Director, Stager, and Coach.  

His career is marked by his artistic excellence, technical proficiency, and compelling character interpretations, showcasing elegance and remarkable partnering skills. Since 2007, Ivan has represented multiple international ballet companies, directing, and staging major productions worldwide. 

Further, his linguistic skills are an asset in the diverse world of international ballet. Born in Spain, he is fluent in Spanish, as well as English, German, Italian, and Portuguese.  

Ivan spent a significant part of his career (1997-2007) as a principal artist at Stuttgart Ballet, Germany, and Dutch National Ballet (2007-2008) where he performed in numerous acclaimed productions. Renowned across the global ballet scene, Ivan has also significantly contributed as a guest artist with numerous prestigious companies, including Ballet of Santiago de Chile, le Bayerisches Staatsballet de Munich, the Finnish National Ballet, the Croatian National Ballet, the West Australian Ballet, Ballet del Teatro Massimo de Palermo, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro de l’Arena di Verona, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli. Nuremberg Staatsballet, Universal Ballet of Corea, National Ballet of Corea, and the Slovenian National Ballet.  

Notably, Ivan has had principal roles created for him by renowned choreographers including Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, and Goyo Montero. As a ballet assistant and stager, Ivan has collaborated with luminary choreographers like Carlos Acosta, Christian Spuck, Goyo Montero, and Derek Deane, resulting in critically acclaimed productions such as Swan Lake and Romeo & Juliet with the English National Ballet; Nutcracker, Cinderella, and The Sleeping Beauty at Staatstheater Nürnberg; Chacona for Birmingham Royal Ballet, The Sleeping Beauty for Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, The Lady of the Camellias at Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and for the National Ballet of Croatia, and Nutcracker, Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake, Le Fantome de L’operá and The Lady of the Camelias  for the Shanghai Ballet. 

In 2016 and in 2023, Ivan was part of Queensland Ballet’s sell-out production Strictly Gershwin, acting as the right-hand man to Chorographer and Director, Derek Deane. In 2020-2021 Ivan was Rehearsal Director / Stager for the Bolshoi Ballet for the world premiere of Orlando, choreographed by Christian Spuck, now the Artistic Director of Berlin Ballet, as well as having worked closely with Carlos Acosta in launching his world premiere of "Carmen" at the Royal Opera House with the Royal Ballet.  

In addition to his artistic roles, Ivan holds prestigious advisory positions, serving as Vice President of Le Prix de Lausanne (2019), a Jury Member for the Youth America Grand Prix Competition since 2019, and President of the Jury for the Certamen Coreografico Burgos New York in its 2014/2015 edition. In 2009, Ivan was honoured with the “Premio Positano de Danza – Léonide Massine,” recognising his substantial contributions to the art.