The director

Since 1993, Derevianko has been reaping tremendous success as Director of the Ballett of the Sachsische Staatsoper Semper Dresden in Germany. Under his direction, the company has been renamed Ballett Dresden and is today one of the most interesting ballet companies in Europe.

In 13 years at the company's helm, Derevianko has built up an excellent and cosmopolitan ensemble, with 60 dancers recruited from 30 different countries. Derevianko has developed the quality of his company, increasing the number of performances (70 performances per season, numerous tours) and the size of the audience. With a full-house at almost every performance, Derevianko has managed to build up an enthusiastic ballet audience in the city of Dresden.

Derevianko has invited many of the most celebrated choreographers of our time, such as Kylian, Forsythe, Scholz, Neumeier, Mats Ek and Tetley, to work with the company and/or produce new works, whilst ensuring that some of the most significant and beautiful ballets of the classical repertoire have featured in the Ballett Dresden's programmes.

In the summer of 2004, Vladimir Derevianko was given the "Leonide Massine Award" for his major contribution to ballet. This award not only honours his career but underscores the importance that the Dresden Ballet now has on the ballet scene. The Ballett Dresden is today considered one of the major German and European companies and the credit is due to Derevianko's insight and direction.