Artistic Staff

Biography - François Klaus, Artistic Director & Chief Choreographer

“A good ballet company is an exceptional thing. It is a fragile instrument, requiring constant work, commitment and vigilant care from everyone involved, to be the best it can be.” François Klaus

François Klaus began dancing at the age of nine with the Russian teacher Julie Sedova and three years later began studying with Marika Besobrasova in Monte Carlo. François’s first contract as a professional dancer was at the age of 17, with the Geneva Ballet under the directorship of Serge Golovine.

John Cranko offered François the opportunity to join his company in Stuttgart and to continue working with him as a soloist in Munich. François danced his first leading role (Prince Siegfried in Cranko’s Swan Lake) at the age of 22 and was promoted to principal dancer the following season. In Munich he met his wife, an Australian dancer, Robyn White, who had also been engaged by Cranko and was to pursue her career as a soloist with Hamburg Ballet.

François also joined the Hamburg Ballet. Under John Neumeier it became one of Germany’s leading companies, and for 18 years, François was one of the significant influences in the company. Singled out by critics for his fine artistic interpretation, his musicality, and enormous concentration, François was to create the leading male roles in many of the Neumeier ballets.

His roles included King Arthur in King Arthur’s Saga, Oberon in A Midsummer Nights Dream, Don Juan, Romeo and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, the Prince in The Sleeping Beauty, King Ludwig in Neumeier’s Swan Lake, and Petrus in St. Mathew’s Passion. He also danced the male leads in ballets by Cranko, Balanchine and Béjart and partnered Natalia Makarova, Marcia Haydée, Carla Fracci, Violette Verdi, Judith Jamison and Patricia McBride.

Hamburg Ballet toured extensively in Europe, Japan, and North and South America. Following its first New York season, François’s performance in Neumeier’s Mahler III was selected in 1981 as the best performance by an established dancer by the critics of the American publication, Dancemagazine.

François’s first choreographed works in Hamburg included The Little Mermaid for the TIK Theatre, children’s ballets in collaboration with Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, a benefit gala for the restoration of the St Thomas Church, and a full-length evening for the 800 year celebrations of the city. In 1991 he took up his first post as an Artistic Director in Bern, Switzerland.

After three years with Bern State Theatre, François formed his own independent company, Ballett Art. This was artistically very successful and in October 1996, François was awarded a Doron Cultural Prize for his choreography and his contribution to dance in Switzerland.

François was offered the position of Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet in 1997 following an international search, and took up his post in January 1998. He began his tenure with a clear vision to create a dynamic company which provided his dancers with a consistently creative environment. Equally important was to develop a sustainable, financially sound organisation, which could continue its vital role in the cultural life of Queensland well into the future.

As Chief Choreographer, François Klaus has furnished the Company with a repertoire of nearly 100 works, ranging from full-length story ballets to short pieces for the Vis-à-vis Studio Series. The talents of young choreographers are also enthusiastically nurtured. By inviting guest choreographers to work with the Company and international guest artists to perform in International Galas, François provides his dancers with further creative inspiration.

For his work with Queensland Ballet, François was awarded a Perform/4MBS award for choreography in 1999 and 2000, and in 2002 he was nominated for a Helpmann Award. He also received a Centenary Medal for distinguished service to the arts in 2001.

Internationally renowned dance writer Horst Koegler attributes the significant growth in the reputation of Queensland Ballet in recent years to François Klaus. Under his direction, the Company undertook its first tour to Europe in January 2006, to great public and critical acclaim, and had further success on a return visit with his ballet Cloudland in October 2007. The Company also toured to Singapore in March 2007 with Klaus’s Alice in Wonderland and to Japan in April 2008 with The Little Mermaid.

Biography – Robyn White, Artistic Associate

Robyn White was born in Townsville and received her early dance training in Mackay before becoming the first Queensland winner of The Australian Ballet Society’s bursary to the Australian Ballet School. She was one of the first graduates of the School to be offered a contract with John Cranko, then Artistic Director of the Stuttgart and Munich Ballet Companies.

After three years, Robyn accepted a contract with Hamburg Ballet under the directorship of John Neumeier. She was promoted to soloist and danced principal roles in many Neumeier ballets, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, King Arthur’s Saga, and Petrushka Variations. She had particular success in Balanchine ballets, and performed as a principal in Agon, Divertimento, and Four Temperaments, as well as in works by such choreographers as Felix Blaska, Gigi Caciuleanu and Rudi von Danzig.

Robyn’s professional teaching includes work for the Bern Ballet in Switzerland and the Semper Oper in Dresden, Germany. She has also conducted master classes organised by the Swiss Ballet Teachers Association for talented ballet students auditioned throughout Switzerland. Since her return to Australia in 1997 with her husband François Klaus and their two sons, Robyn has been the Company teacher for Queensland Ballet. Together with François, she has been responsible for establishing and developing Queensland Ballet’s Junior Extension and Professional Year Programs, and as Artistic Associate of the Company she is actively involved in coaching and the development of new works for Queensland Ballet.