Raphaël Coumes-Marquet
© Ingo Schaefer
Raphaël Coumes-Marquet was born in Besançon (France) and received his training at the École de Danse de l'Opéra de Paris. He was named "Best Young Dancer" by Dance Magazine in 1995 and received the "Best Partnership Award" from Dance Europe Magazine with Esteban Berlanga in 2009. He was a soloist with the Monte-Carlo Ballet (1992-1997), danced for the Vienna State Opera Ballet (1997/98) and was engaged as first soloist with Het Nationale Ballet Amsterdam (1998-2006) and the Semperoper Ballett (2006-2015). He also worked in Dresden from 2015-2019 as ballet master and as project manager and artistic coordinator of the "Semper Zwei" venue.
During his time in Dresden, he also met Bridget Breiner for the first time in 2006, who was also a first soloist with the Semperoper Ballet. They continued their collaboration when Raphaël Coumes-Marquet was invited to join Bridget Breiner's company in Gelsenkirchen. Together they danced the leading roles in "Giselle" (2014). He has danced as a guest soloist in companies worldwide and has appeared in several ballet film productions (including "The Grey Area in Creation", 2004; "Sleeping Beauty", 2004, "Giselle", 2008). Raphaël Coumes-Marquet has worked with numerous important choreographers, including William Forsythe, John Neumeier, Mats Ek, Jiří Kylián, David Dawson and Hans van Manen. He has worked with David Dawson since 1999, first as a dancer and then as a choreographic assistant. His repertoire as a soloist includes almost all the leading roles in classical ballet, such as Albrecht in "Giselle", Siegfried in "Swan Lake", Florimund in "Sleeping Beauty", the Prince in "The Nutcracker", Solor in "La Bayadère" and James in "La Sylphide". His repertoire also includes choreographies by Kenneth MacMillan, John Cranko, Georges Balanchine, Rudi van Dantzig, Carolyn Carlson, Glen Tetley, Martha Graham and Uwe Scholz, among others. Guest appearances have taken him to the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Spain, England, France, Norway, Russia and Lithuania. He appeared as Principal Guest Artist in David Dawson's "Faun(e)" at the English National Ballet in London, Barcelona, Moscow and Houston. He has also danced as Principal Guest Artist with the National Ballet of Croatia and the Ballett im Revier Gelsenkirchen.
In addition to his dancing career, Raphaël Coumes-Marquet also worked as a choreographer and ballet master, e.g. for the Ayumi Ballet Company in Tokyo, Stage de danse de Liège and the Summer School "ART of" in Berlin. He has staged David Dawson's choreographies for numerous companies: for the West Australian Ballet and the Finnish National Ballet ("A Million Kisses to my Skin"), in Gelsenkirchen and Essen ("Giselle"), for Het Nationale Ballet Amsterdam ("Tristan + Isolde"), the Staatstheater Saarbrücken ("The Grey Area") and the Charlotte Ballet ("Opus 11"). He has also choreographed for the Semper Opera Ball and ZDF, among others. In addition, he continues to develop cross-genre dance projects such as "Close-up", "Tanz-Dinner", "Tanz à la carte" and "Tanz:Film". For the Semperoper Ballett, he created "Tod im Tutu" (2017), together with young choreographers "Alice - Eine Reise ins Wunderland" (2019) and most recently the dance theater "Der 35. Mai oder Konrad reitet in die Südsee" in 2023.
Raphaël Coumes-Marquet is the Director of Ballett am Rhein since the beginning of the 2024/25 season.
During his time in Dresden, he also met Bridget Breiner for the first time in 2006, who was also a first soloist with the Semperoper Ballet. They continued their collaboration when Raphaël Coumes-Marquet was invited to join Bridget Breiner's company in Gelsenkirchen. Together they danced the leading roles in "Giselle" (2014). He has danced as a guest soloist in companies worldwide and has appeared in several ballet film productions (including "The Grey Area in Creation", 2004; "Sleeping Beauty", 2004, "Giselle", 2008). Raphaël Coumes-Marquet has worked with numerous important choreographers, including William Forsythe, John Neumeier, Mats Ek, Jiří Kylián, David Dawson and Hans van Manen. He has worked with David Dawson since 1999, first as a dancer and then as a choreographic assistant. His repertoire as a soloist includes almost all the leading roles in classical ballet, such as Albrecht in "Giselle", Siegfried in "Swan Lake", Florimund in "Sleeping Beauty", the Prince in "The Nutcracker", Solor in "La Bayadère" and James in "La Sylphide". His repertoire also includes choreographies by Kenneth MacMillan, John Cranko, Georges Balanchine, Rudi van Dantzig, Carolyn Carlson, Glen Tetley, Martha Graham and Uwe Scholz, among others. Guest appearances have taken him to the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Spain, England, France, Norway, Russia and Lithuania. He appeared as Principal Guest Artist in David Dawson's "Faun(e)" at the English National Ballet in London, Barcelona, Moscow and Houston. He has also danced as Principal Guest Artist with the National Ballet of Croatia and the Ballett im Revier Gelsenkirchen.
In addition to his dancing career, Raphaël Coumes-Marquet also worked as a choreographer and ballet master, e.g. for the Ayumi Ballet Company in Tokyo, Stage de danse de Liège and the Summer School "ART of" in Berlin. He has staged David Dawson's choreographies for numerous companies: for the West Australian Ballet and the Finnish National Ballet ("A Million Kisses to my Skin"), in Gelsenkirchen and Essen ("Giselle"), for Het Nationale Ballet Amsterdam ("Tristan + Isolde"), the Staatstheater Saarbrücken ("The Grey Area") and the Charlotte Ballet ("Opus 11"). He has also choreographed for the Semper Opera Ball and ZDF, among others. In addition, he continues to develop cross-genre dance projects such as "Close-up", "Tanz-Dinner", "Tanz à la carte" and "Tanz:Film". For the Semperoper Ballett, he created "Tod im Tutu" (2017), together with young choreographers "Alice - Eine Reise ins Wunderland" (2019) and most recently the dance theater "Der 35. Mai oder Konrad reitet in die Südsee" in 2023.
Raphaël Coumes-Marquet is the Director of Ballett am Rhein since the beginning of the 2024/25 season.
