Brigitte Stadler

The Viennese Brigitte Stadler, former principal dancer of the Vienna State Opera Ballet, received her training at the Ballet School of the Austrian Federal Theatres, where her most important teacher was former Prima Ballerina Edeltraud Brexner. She completed her studies with Stanley Williams, Alexandra Danilowa and Soki Schorer in New York and with Marika Besobrasova in Monte Carlo. At the age of 14 she was accepted into the Vienna State Opera Ballet, being the youngest member. She soon danced solo roles and in 1983, at the 100^th performance of Rudolf Nureyev’s »Swan Lake«, she was partnered by this great dancer for the first time, with many performances to follow. In 1984 she was promoted to soloist and in 1990 to principal dancer. Her large repertoire included, amongst others, the main roles in »La Sylphide«, »Giselle«, »Don Quixote«, »Sleeping Beauty«, »The Nutcracker«, »Raymonda«, »La Fille mal gardée«, »Sylvia«, »A Midsummer Night’s Dream«, »La Bayadère«, »The Merry Widow«, »Romeo and Juliet«, »Manon« and »Die Puppenfee«. Furthermore, she danced in ballets by Gerald Arpino, George Balanchine, Anton Dolin, Jiří Kylián, John Neumeier, Valery Panov, László Seregi, Jochen Ulrich, Rudi van Dantzig, Hans van Manen and Renato Zanella. She created roles such as Columbine in Jochen Ulrich’s »Tantz-Schul« and the Primaballerina in Renato Zanella’s »Aschenbrödel«. Besides Rudolf Nureyev, she was partnered by famous international dancers like Michael Birkmeyer, Peter Breuer, Gyula Harangozó, Charles Jude, Ludwig Karl, Manuel Legris, Vladimir Malakhov, Irek Mukhamedov, Valery Panov, Peter Schaufuss and Tamás Solymosi. Brigitte Stadler has appeared in many gala performances, amongst others in Berlin, Budapest, Essen, Bratislava and Prague. Together with Nureyev and the Vienna State Opera Ballet she was also guesting in Japan, Seoul and Bangkok.

After her last performance as a dancer in MacMillan’s »Manon« alongside Vladimir Malakhov in September 2000, Brigitte Stadler remained associated with the Vienna State Ballet. In 2001, she directed the rehearsals for »La Bajadère« and the end-of-season gala and was responsible for the revival of Elena Tchernichova’s »Giselle«. In 2002 she worked with the soloists on Frederick Ashton’s »La Fille mal gardée«. In 2010/11 Brigitte Stadler was teaching at the Ballet School of the Vienna State Opera. Furthermore, she was a guest teacher with the Vienna State Ballet and returned in the 2020/21 season for the rehearsals of »Giselle«.