Giovanni Di Palma

Giovanni Di Palma was born near Naples and trained at the National Academy of Dance in Rome. After his first engagement at the Ballet of the Opera of Rome, he danced with Ballet Nice, Ballet Dresden and since 2000 with the Leipzig Ballet. Uwe Scholz appointed him principal dancer in Leipzig and created many important roles for him, including the solo in the piano version of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps. In 2001, the magazine ballettanz nominated him as best young talent in the category “Contemporary Dance”, he received the Léonide Massine Award and in 2006 he was awarded for his interpretation of Glen Tetley’s Pierrot lunaire. In 2008 he received the Les étoiles Award from Ballet2000 and in 2009 the Anita Bucchi Award for his performance in Giorgio Madia’s Swan Lake. As a guest he has danced on many international stages.
Since 2009 Giovanni Di Palma has concentrated on his work as a pedagogue, ballet master and choreographer and has been invited by numerous international companies as a guest teacher. His special knowledge about the work of Uwe Scholz and his close artistic connection to the choreographer Marco Goecke has taken him all over the world restaging their works, including companies like the Istanbul State Ballet, Croatian National Ballet, São Paulo Companhia de Dança, Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, National Conservatory in Den Haag, Ballet Poznań, Ballet Brno, Tokyo City Ballet, Canadian National Ballet, Ballet du Rhin Strasbourg, Ballett Mannheim, Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg, Ballet Nice, Ballet of the Opera in Rome and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo.
Since the 2013/14 season he has been working as resident ballet master with the São Paulo Companhia de Dança, for which he also created his first full evening ballet: a new version of Romeo and Juliet. In 2016, Paquita followed for Tokyo City Ballet, in 2017 Pulcinella was world premiered in São Paulo and has meanwhile been restaged at Ballet Rijeka in Croatia.
Furthermore he is a permanent guest ballet master at Les Ballets de Monte Carlo.