Artistic staff

Principal Ballet Master

Bernice Coppieters

Born in Termonde, Belgium on November 16th, 1970.

1980 Bernice Coppieters began to study dance at the Antwerp Institute of Ballet.
1988 She entered the Royal Ballet of Flanders where she was promoted soloist.

1991 She joined Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. From 1992, her encounter with Jean-Christophe Maillot marked the beginning of an exceptional collaboration that has lasted for more than 30 years. 1995 Bernice Coppieters is named Etoile of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, by H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover.

Bernice Coppieters has inspired Jean-Christophe Maillot to create his most memorable characters in ballets : Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, the Fairy Godmother and Wicked Stepmother Cinderella, the Drosselmeyer in Casse-Noisette Circus, Beauty in La Belle, Titania in Le Songe, Death in Faust, Princess Sheherazade in Sheherazade, Her Majesty the Night in LAC. She has thus interpreted more than forty creations by Jean-Christophe Maillot for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo since 1992, but also the Russian Ballets repertoire and the Balanchine repertoire of the Monaco’s company. Throughout her career, she has also collaborated with many choreographers invited by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo such as Karole Armitage, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Lucinda Childs, Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Marco Goecke, Jiří Kylián, Twyla Tharp… and Maurice Béjart gave her the chance to dance his Boléro.

In recent years, Bernice Coppieters has staged Jean-Christophe Maillot’s productions for major dance companies including the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Essen Ballet, the National Ballet of the Vienna Opera, the National Ballet of Korea, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Prague National Theatre, the Ballet of the Capitol National Opera, the Royal Flanders Ballet and the Staatsballett Berlin.

In 2015, Bernice Coppieters was named Principal Ballet Master of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. Since then, she has assisted Jean-Christophe Maillot in all his creations, including The Tame of the shrew created with the Bolshoi Ballet.

Awards and distinctions:
1988 She won the Prix de Lausanne
2002 She is named Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit of the Principality of Monaco
2011 She is the winner of the Benois de la Danse in the category «dancer»
2015 She is appointed Officer of the Order of Cultural Merit of the Principality of Monaco

Ballet Masters

Ballet Master

Asier URIAGEREKA

Spanish. Born in 1975, he studied ballet in Bilbao and then at the Royal Ballet School after having been arwarded the Prix de Lausanne in 1993.

From 1994 to 1999, he danced as a Principal dancer at the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
In 2001, he joined les Ballets de Monte-Carlo where he has danced major roles in Jean-Christophe Maillot's productions such as Romeo and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, the Prince in Cinderella and La Belle, Adam in Œil pour Œil, Faust in Faust, Demetrious et Oberon in Le Songe. He also danced in Opus 40, Dov'è la Luna, Men’s Dance, Les Noces, D’une Rive à l’Autre, Altro Canto, Shéhérazade, Choré, LAC.
He also worked with choreographers : Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Marie Chouinard, Emio Greco, Twyla Tharp, Giacopo Godani, Johan Inger, Lightfoot & Leon, Nacho Duato, Shen Wei, Nicolo Fonte, Jeroën Verbruggen…

In 2014, he re-staged Romeo and Juliet by Jean-Christophe Maillot for the Atlanta Ballet and in 2015 for the Nothern Ballet.

Ballet Master

Gaëtan MORLOTTI

1976 Gaëtan Morlotti studies dance in Ajaccio with Patricia Portal-Gozzi. In 1980 he continues the training in Paris with Solange Golovine et Félix Malinowski. 1982 enters the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris and trains with Serge Golovine.

1986 joins Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, a newly created company by H.R.H Princess of Hanover directed by Pierre Lacotte et Ghyslaine Thesmar. He performs the Ballets Russes repertoire (Le Prince Igor, Le Fils prodigue, Shéhérazade…) and the choreographies of Pierre Lacotte. Also performs the creations of guest choreographers like Denis Wayne and particularly Le Mandarin Merveilleux of Jean-Christophe Maillot invited in1987. The encounter between the two artists creates a mutual impact that marks the beginning of the collaboration lasting since 25 years.

1988 He follows Jean-Christophe Maillot to the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Tours where he performs his choreographies : Cliché I, Cliché II, Cliché III, Thème et quatre variations, Le Jardin jeux d’amour, Lundi matin 11 heures, Le Voyage d’hiver, Du haut de..., Ubuhuha, After All, Naranjas e citrons (in collaboration with Ramon Oller), Lueur d’amour, Casse-Noisette Circus. In the frames of the Festival “Le Chorégraphique” created by Jean-Christophe Maillot à Tours, he collaborates amongst others with Christine Bastin, Jean Gaudin et Ramon Oller.

1993 Returns to Monaco where Jean-Christophe Maillot is appointed Choreographer-Director of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. He will perform the major roles of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s ballets that are mainly created for him: Home sweet Home, Dov’è la luna, Vers un pays sage, Concert d’Anges, Roméo et Juliette, Duo d’Anges, In Volo, Recto Verso, l’Ile, Cendrillon, Opus 40, Entrelacs, Œil pour Œil, La Belle, D’une Rive à l’Autre, Noces, Miniatures, Le Songe, Faust, Altro Canto II, Fauves, Norma (scenography for the Opéra de Monte-Carlo), Shéhérazade, Daphnis et Chloé, Opus 50, Lac, Choré.

He collaborates with great number of contemporary choreographers invited to create for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and most of them for Gaëtan Morlotti: Chris Haring (The Rite Thing), Maurice Béjart (Le Sacre Du Printemps, Boléro), Jiri Kylian (Bella Figura, Sechs Tänze, Return To A Strange Land, Svadebka), Millicent Hodson (Le Sacre Du Printemps) Johan Inger (Walking Mad), S.L. Cherkaoui (Mea Culpa), Lionel Hoche (Balistik, Petite Pièce d’Extérieur, Hiatus), Jacopo Godani (Beyonders, Getting Started), Lucinda Childs (The Chairman Dances), Itzik Galili (Blue Grass), Kevin O'Day (The Time It Takes), Marcia Barcellos (Very Small Creatures), Lucinda Childs (Concerto), Serge Bennathan (Image d'une Traversée), William Forsythe (The Vile Parody Of Address), Nacho Duato (Duende), Angelin Preljocaj (Le Spectre de la Rose), John Neumeier (Petrouchka), Karole Armitage (I Had A Dream), Bertrand D'at (Dichter Liebe).

2002 In the frames of Monaco Dance Forum Gaëtan Morlotti starts very productive choreographic life. Le Spectre éléctrique is his first performance realised with DJ Spooky. In 2006 collaborates with the painter Ernest Pignon-Ernest for the itinerary in the city of Brest in homage to Jean Genet. 2007 Creates the choreography Mu for the School of Rosella Hightower in Cannes and assists Jean-Christophe Maillot for the conception of the Jeux des Petits Etats d’Europe opening ceremony in Monaco. 2009 Creates in the frames of the Centenary of the Ballets Russes a Hommage à l’Après-Midi d’un Faune and participates many times with his choreographies within the festival Printemps des Arts in Monaco. For les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and in the frames of the Young Choreographers evenings he creates: Entre temps, Les Echevelés, Des-compositions 2012. Forms also the group “ Small Bang” with whom he creates several performances, notably Variations pour les colonnes presented at the Monaco Dance Forum.

Since 2010 Gaëtan Morlotti is leading the pedagogical projects and works with students in the collaboration with the National Education of Monaco.