Barcelona IBM Faculty 2023
David Makhateli
Mr. Makhateli is a co-founder and Artistic Director of D&D Art Productions and the Grand Audition, D&D Intensive Ballet Masterclass program in Barcelona (Spain), Tokyo / Osaka (Japan), Panama City (Panama). With D&D company, he organized numerous International Ballet Galas and Festivals worldwide, among them: “Meet the Stars”, “Nureyev and Friends”, “La Nuit des Etoiles”, “Stars with Maya Plisetskaya”, “Kremlin Ballet Festival” and other.
Graduate of the Royal Ballet School and Former Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, he has performed all over the world including in Russia, Japan, throughout in Europe, the United States, Brazil, Cuba, China, Korea, Panama, Georgia, and in the United Kingdom for Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal family. Mr. Makhateli is invited Guest Teacher of the Royal Ballet, Opéra National de Paris, Het National Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Ballet de l'Opéra National de Bordeaux, Swedish Royal Ballet, Slovenian National Ballet, Ballet Theatre du Capitole Toulouse
Daria Makhateli
Graduate of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in 2005 (class of Prof. Tatiana Udalenkova), she joined the Mariinsky Theatre the same year. Daria Makhateli performed with Mariinsky Theatre Soloist and Principal roles on Mariinsky Stage, as well as on Stages of the top and prestigious theatres worldwide on tours with Mariinsky and as a guest; UK, USA, Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, Singapore among other places. In 2014 Daria Makhateli was invited by Kenneth Greve to join Finnish National Ballet as a Principal Dancer. Daria Makhateli is a recipient of the “Golden Sofit” award for the best female role in the ballet “Meek One” choreographed by Donvena Pandoursky (2007). Daria was invited guest ballerina of Asami Maki Ballet in Tokyo, Japan.
Daria Makhateli is a co-founder and director of the D&D Art Productions and the Grand Audition (First International Ballet Audition Platform which took place for the first time in 2016).
Natalia Hoffmann-Sitnikova
Professor at the Ballet Academy of the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich.
Natalia was born in 1967 and studied at the Ballet Academy in Russia's Perm. She was a Soloist at the ballet in Perm, as well as at the Bonn Opera, and a second Soloist with the Dutch National Ballet.
Her main roles include Giselle, Coppelia, Les Sylphides, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, La Fille Mal Gardee, Paquita, Midsummer Night's Dream, Carmina Burana, Three Sisters, Romeo and Juliet, Eugene Onegin, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Spartacus.
In addition, she performed in many other ballets by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Krzysztof Pastor, Valery Panov, Youri Vamos, John Cranko, Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, Hans van Manen, Rudi van Dantzig, Vladimir Vassiliev, Sir Frederick Ashton, Jerome Robbins, C. Wheeldon, A. Ratmansky, etc.
Since 2006 she has been working at the Dutch National Ballet as a balletmaster assisting choreographers.
Ms. Hoffmann-Sitnikova is a guest teacher and coach with the Polish National Ballet in Warsaw, the Hungarian National Ballet in Budapest, the National Ballet Academy in Amsterdam, the English National Ballet in London, and the New National Theatre in Tokyo Japan.
Javier Torres Lopez
Artistic Director of the Finnish National Ballet
Artistic Director of the Finnish National Ballet (from 01/08/2022) Javier Torres completed his studies as a classical dancer in 1984, and in 1988 he graduated as a dance teacher of the Cuban method both at the National School of Ballet in Mexico City. From 1988 Torres continued his dance formation by participating in various classical and contemporary dance courses across Europe. In 1989 he joined the Helsinki Dance Company and in 1991 the Finnish National Ballet, where he performed until 2008.
Javier Torres has been working as a choreographer since 1984 and he has created more than 30 works: neoclassical and contemporary, like Kuukylpyjä (1991), Unen Iholta (1992), Wild Jealous Beast (1993), Boleros (1995), Poppies (2001), Nereidas (2014) and Flock (2021) and full evening ballets, like The Sleeping Beauty (2008) and The Beauty and the Beast (2014) for the Finnish National Ballet and La Bayadére (2014) for the Czech National Ballet.
Javier Torres has lectured at many international dance and medicine symposiums and conferences, e.g.in Helsinki, London, Munich, and Basel. He has led international seminars focused on the psychological, physical, and methodological aspects of ballet teaching. Javier Torres has been working as a freelance teacher and choreographer for professional ballet companies, including the Stuttgart Ballet, Lyon Opera Ballet, Czech, Norwegian, Spanish, and Mexican National Ballets as well as Dusseldorf Ballet.