Jury

Barbora Hruskova - pré-seleção/pre selection

Ballet Master at the National Ballet of Portugal

Former Principal Dancer at National Ballet of Portugal

Former first Soloist at the Royal Ballet of Flanders

Maria Barroso

Maria Barroso, born in 1993, is currently a dancer with the National Ballet Company of Portugal. She began her studies at the Escola Artística de Dança do Conservatório Nacional and, in 2010, took part in the Prix de Lausanne, where she was awarded a scholarship to complete her training at the John Cranko School in Stuttgart.

Throughout her professional career, she has danced with renowned international companies, including Stuttgart Ballet, Semperoper Ballett Dresden, and The Royal Ballet in London. Her repertoire includes works such as The Four Temperaments, The Rite of Spring, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, La Fille Mal Gardée, Don Quixote, Alice in Wonderland, Giselle, Scènes de Ballet, The Taming of the Shrew, La Bayadère, Onegin, and Fall, among others.

In parallel with her artistic career, she has developed a strong connection to teaching. She holds a Master’s degree in Dance Education from the Escola Superior de Dança and mentors final-year students from various dance schools across the country as part of their professional training placements at the National Ballet Company.

She already has extensive teaching experience, having given numerous masterclasses at several dance schools throughout Portugal within the framework of the National Ballet Company’s Talent Development Project. In 2025, she also served on the jury of the Youth Grand Prix (YGP) in Faro, where she taught masterclasses as well.

Maria Eichwald

Born in Talgar, Kazakhstan, Maria Eichwald began her ballet training at the National Ballet School in Alma-Ata. Upon graduation, she joined the National Ballet of Kazakhstan, where she was soon promoted to Principal Dancer.

In 1993, she moved to Germany to join the company of the Theatre Krefeld-Mönchengladbach, first as a member of the corps de ballet and later as a soloist. In 1996, she became a member of the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich, where she was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1999.

During her years in Munich, she performed leading roles in both classical and contemporary works by choreographers such as John Cranko, Marius Petipa, Patrice Bart, John Neumeier, Kenneth MacMillan, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Jerome Robbins, Jiří Kylián, Mats Ek and Leonid Jacobson.

In January 2004, she joined the Stuttgart Ballet as Principal Dancer, expanding her repertoire with major roles in works by John Cranko, Márcia Haydée, Christian Spuck, Glen Tetley, Uwe Scholz, Hans van Manen, Wayne McGregor, and many others.

Since 2014, Maria Eichwald has pursued an independent career, performing as a guest artist with renowned international companies and theaters. She danced works by Nacho Duato, Patrice Bart, Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, including leading roles in Giselle and Cinderella. She has also performed in creations by Roland Petit and Giuseppe Piccone, appearing at prestigious stages such as La Scala (Milan), Teatro San Carlo (Naples), and in major dance capitals including Beijing, Tokyo, Stockholm, Moscow, and St. Petersburg.

Celebrated for her expressiveness and artistic sensitivity, she was nominated for the Prix Benois de la Danse in 2002 and received the “Ms Expressivity” award at the Dance Open Festival in St. Petersburg in 2012. She was named Dancer of the Year by Dance Europe magazine in 2010, 2011, and 2012, by Danza e Danza in 2012, and by Tanz magazine in 2014.

Since September 2021, Maria Eichwald has been part of the teaching faculty at the John Cranko School in Stuttgart, where she shares with new generations the technical precision and artistic refinement that define her distinguished career.

Thomas Klein

Choreographic Assistant · Ballet Master · Stager · Coach

Thomas Klein is an internationally respected ballet master, coach, and choreographic assistant, renowned for his collaborations with leading ballet companies around the world. Born in Stuttgart, Germany, he received his training at the esteemed John Cranko School before beginning his professional career as a soloist with Staatsballett Wiesbaden.

He later performed as a principal soloist with the Ballet National de Nancy under the direction of Patrick Dupond and Pierre Lacotte, before joining the Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon, where he worked closely with major contemporary choreographers, such as Maguy Marin, Bill T. Jones and Angelin Preljocaj.

In 1994, Nacho Duato invited him to join Spain’s Compañía Nacional de Danza as a principal soloist. Over the next decade, Klein performed an extensive repertoire including works by Duato, Jiři Kilián, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, and William Forsythe.

Since 2004, Klein has been in high demand internationally as a freelance stager, choreographic assistant and coach, particularly known for his significant stagings of Nacho Duato’s ballets. His work has taken him to prominent companies such as the Paris Opera Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Mikhailovsky Ballet (St. Petersburg), Hong Kong Ballet, Vienna State Ballet, Bavarian State Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, among many others.

In 2007, he returned to the Compañía Nacional de Danza as ballet master and choreographic assistant to Duato, later also serving as artistic coordinator under Hervé Palito. In 2015, he joined Staatsballett Berlin, where he contributed to both classical and contemporary productions.

Today, Thomas Klein continues to stage the works of Nacho Duato, coach dancers, and teach internationally. In recent years, he has also collaborated with choreographer Arshak Ghalumyan and the Berlin Ballet Company.