Born in Brussels to a Russian mother and a Belgian father, Micha van Hoecke (1944–2021) began studying classical dance in Paris with Olga Preobajenskaja. Also passionate about cinema, he appeared as a teenager in films by Yannick Andrei, Hervé Brombergé, and later Claude Lelouch. In 1960, he joined Roland Petit’s company and, in 1962, Maurice Béjart’s Ballet of the 20th Century. There, he worked as a dancer, choreographer, and Béjart’s assistant before becoming director of the Mudra School. From the 1970s onward, he devoted himself exclusively to choreography within the Ballet of the 20th Century. With other dancers from the company, he founded the Chandra group.In 1981, he created L’Ensemble with the best students of Mudra and established the company at the Maison de la Culture in Tournai. In 1984, he settled with his company at the Centro Wilson in Rome.From 1997 to 2002, he was principal choreographer of the Ballet of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, and from 2010 to 2014, director of the Ballet of the Rome Opera. As a stage director, he created several productions for the Ravenna Festival (La Muette de Portici, Carmen, Macbeth, Faust) and for the Rome Opera (Aida, Carmina Burana).At the Paris Opera: Les Troyens (1990); Un ballo in maschera (2007); The Bartered Bride (2008).

Micha van HoeckeChoreographer