Víctor Ullate
Encyclopedia
Víctor Ullate is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) is a dancer, choreographer and ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
director.
Ullate trained with María de Avila and Rosella Hightower. He started his professional dancing life wihth Antonio Ruiz Soler's company in 1962 before joining Maurice Béjart's Ballet
Béjart Ballet
The Béjart Ballet Lausanne is a Swiss ballet company. It is based in the city of Lausanne, but tours other countries.The Béjart Ballet Lausanne was founded in 1987. It was established by Maurice Béjart, a well-known choreographer who had previously founded and managed the "Ballet du XXe Siècle" in...
as a principal three years later. He remained there for fourteen years during which he created roles in Béjart's Ni fleurs, Ni couronnes (1967), Offrande chorégraphique (1970), Nijinsky, Clown de Dieu (1971), Golestan (1973), and I trionfi di Petrarca (1974).
In 1979 he was invited by the Spanish Ministry of Culture to form a new national ballet company, the Ballet Nacional de España. Later on, in 1990, when the company was reorganized and the current name adopted (Compañia Nacional de Danza), Nacho Duato
Nacho Duato
Juan Ignacio Duato Bárcia, also known as Nacho Duato is a Spanish modern ballet dancer and choreographer. After a long and successful career, he was selected by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Education as the artistic director of the National Spanish Dance Company in June 1990...
was appointed artistic director.
Ullate founded his own school in 1983 which taught a rigorous academic technique and often had guest teachers from Russia or Cuba. He started his now famous ballet company, Ballet de Victor Ullate in 1988 and started choreographing. Their repertoire includes works by Balanchine, van Manen, Nils Christe, Jan Linkens, and Micha van Hoecke, as well as contemporary ballets by Ullate himself.
Some of his most successful pieces choreographed for his own company are: El Amor Brujo (1994), Volador Hacia La Luz (1995), Ven Que Te Tiente (1996), Jaleos (1996), Seguiriya (2000), La Inteligencia de Las Flores (2001) and El sur (2005).
His works are an original combination of classical and neoclassical ballet and flamenco, combining Spanish traditional and classical music.
Ullate has also staged various classical ballets like Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet blanc. Its original choreography was by Michel Fokine, with music by Frédéric Chopin orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov had already set some of the music in 1892 as a purely orchestral suite, under the title Chopiniana, Op. 46...
, Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
and Don Quixote
Don Quixote (ballet)
Don Quixote is a ballet originally staged in four acts and eight scenes, based on an episode taken from the famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and was first presented by the Ballet of the...
for his company.
Since the year 2000, Ullate is president of the Victor Ullate Foundation for Dance, which promotes professional-level education for ballet dancers
Ullate has formed and trained some of today's most famous ballet dancers, including Angel Corella
Angel Corella
Ángel Corella is a Spanish dancer, currently the Artistic Director and principal dancer of Corella Ballet Castilla Y León as well as principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre...
, Tamara Rojo
Tamara Rojo
Tamara Rojo is a Spanish prima ballerina, and is currently a Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet in London.Rojo was born in Montreal, Canada, to Spanish parents who moved back to Spain when she was four months old...
, Joaquín De Luz
Joaquin de Luz
Joaquín De Luz formerly with the American Ballet Theater , is currently a Principal Dancer with the New York City Ballet .-Background:...
, Lucía Lacarra, Carlos Lopez and Igor Yebra
Igor Yebra
- Early life :Igor Yebra was born in Bilbao, Spain, and was encouraged to start dancing by his parents, two music and dance enthusiasts who named him Igor in honour of the title character in Borodin's opera....
.
He has a son, Víctor Ullate Roche, who is also a professional dancer and one of the judges on Fama ¡a bailar!