Sebastian Michanek

I think it is no exaggeration to say that Sebastian Michanek managed to surprise even those who know him with his excellent performance as Peer Gynt in John Neumeier’s ballet of the same name. Peer is one of the most difficult male roles in ballet, placing extreme demands on the dancer’s technique, acting skills, presence and sheer endurance and it is not the most obvious first principal part for a young dancer.

But the panache and beauty, the total lack of nerves and the understanding demonstrated by Michanek, who really managed to make the character his own, proved that he is a young dancer of outstanding talent and maturity. For most young dancers it would be quite sufficient to concentrate on the dance but not for a person like Michanek who has been described thus: “He has six different things going on at the same time and he manages to get everything right.” He has in fact so many things going on that this is too limited a space to recount them all. Right now he is working as project leader for The Gotland International Dance Seminar – the new Swedish international summer course for classical and contemporary dancers. Parallel with this seminar he is also leading Premiere ...