Xenia Wiest

Xenia Wiest was born in Moscow. In 1993, the family immigrated to Germany. At the age of 14, Xenia made the decision to pursue a career as a professional ballet dancer and joined the John-Cranko School in Stuttgart, where she graduated in 2003. That same year, she landed her first job at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and later worked as a guest soloist at Theater Görlitz. From 2004 to 2019, she danced at Staatsballett Berlin under the direction of Vladimir Malakhov, Nacho Duato, and Johannes Öhmann. During her time there, she performed in choreographies by renowned artists such as George Balanchine, Maurice Béjart, William Forsythe, Angelin Prejlocaj, Nacho Duato, Ohad Naharin, Hofesh Shechter, Sharon Eyal and Marco Goecke.

While at Staatsballett Berlin, Xenia also discovered her talent as a choreographer. She created several pieces and expanded her work internationally, with performances in Mexico, Japan, the USA, and Russia. In 2005, she presented her first creation for Staatsballett Berlin in the “Shut up & Dance” ballet evening. Xenia further developed her choreographic skills and won the Choreographic Competition in Biarritz in 2016. She was then commissioned to create a piece for Ballet de L’Opéra National de Bordeaux. Her choreographic journey led her to the Junior Ballet of Dortmund, as well as collaborating with Staatsballett Berlin, the Stanislawski Theatre in Moscow, and the Junior Company of Lyon. In 2019, Xenia was a finalist in the prestigious CONTEXT Diana Vishneva’s Choreographers Competition with her piece “Axis”.

After that, she received an invitation to participate in a co-production called “1,2,3,4” with MAD-Compnany Yuri Smekalove and dancers from the Mariinsky, Bolshoi, and Mikhailovsky Theatres. Xenia retired as a professional dancer in August 2021 when she was invited to become the ballet director of Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater. In the 2021/2022 season, she took over her first company, named Ballett X Schwerin.

In June 2023, she choreographed a part of the opera “Nixon in China,” directed by Daniel Kramer at the Staatsoper Hannover. Her recent creations include a new interpretation of “Firebird,” “Little Prince,” and a full evening titled “Bach: Past, Present, Future” in collaboration with Jonathan dos Santos and the world-famous Francesco Tristano, among other works from the past three years at the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater. Internationally the company was invited with her repertoire to the dance festival “Le Temps d’Aimer la Danse” in Biarritz in 2022 and 2024.

Since July 2024, Xenia has been a freelance choreographer based in Berlin. In the past 18 years, she has created over 30 works. Xenia is an internationally recognized choreographer and is regularly invited to teach workshops and serve as a member of various dance and choreographic competitions.