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Portrait of the Ballet Academy

Portrait of the Ballet Academy

The Ballet Academy of the University of Music and Theatre Munich (HMTM) is a leading international institution for the training of professional stage dancers and the only state-run training institution for professional stage dance in Bavaria. The aim of the programme is to train students to become independent, open-minded and creative artists and to prepare them thoroughly for a professional career in classical and contemporary dance.

A total of more than 100 talented young people study at the Ballet Academy, including children aged 8 to approx. 15 on junior level, as well as teenagers and young adults aged approx. 16 to approx. 20 in bachelor’s studies and in a postgraduate study course in conjunction with the Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich. Our alumni are active in professional companies and renowned theatres in Germany and abroad. Their engagements reflect the practical orientation of the training.

Our mission

Today, dancers are no longer sought after exclusively as performers, but increasingly also as choreographic co-creators of artistic processes. Against this backdrop, the Ballet Academy at HMTM places particular emphasis on the development of creativity, creative skills and artistic responsibility in its bachelor’s programme, in addition to daily dance training.

Furthermore, during their studies, students acquire essential fundamentals that enable them to transfer their acquired skills to other disciplinary and interdisciplinary areas within the framework of additional qualifications or a second degree. This opens up long-term career prospects for them in fields such as dance education, choreography, physical training, dance studies and dance mediation.

The Ballet Academy supports its students on this path by creating a challenging, inspiring and health-conscious learning environment. Teachers and students work together as partners and, based on the Pedagogical Concept and Health Policy, pursue a holistic and sustainable dance education that meets the highest technical requirements.

Exchange and cooperation

A central component of the programme is lively exchange within the academy and close cooperation with national and international partner institutions. Openness, dialogue and interdisciplinary networking characterise the teaching and learning culture. Through cooperation with the Bayerisches Staatsballett (Bavarian State Ballet) and the Heinz-Bosl-Stiftung (Heinz Bosl Foundation), among others, students get early insights into professional working structures and a wide range of opportunities to gain valuable stage experience at home and abroad.

History of the Ballet Academy

The Ballet Academy was founded in the 1964/1965 academic year by Konstanze Vernon as part of what is now the Munich University of Music and Theatre Munich. For over fifty years, the Ballet Academy has been synonymous with professional ballet training in Bavaria. Competition successes, awards and the high number of engagements for its graduates with internationally renowned companies cement the Ballet Academy’s reputation as one of the world’s leading institutions for professional dance training.

Without the dancer Konstanze Vernon (born 1939, died 2013), this development would not have been possible: the prima ballerina and later director of the Bayerisches Staatsballett (Bavarian State Ballet) and the Ballet Academy contributed significantly to the establishment of professional ballet training in Bavaria. Not only did she found the Ballet Academy, but in 1978, in memory of the early death of her dance partner Heinz Bosl (who died in 1975 at the age of only 28), she established the Heinz-Bosl-Stiftung (Heinz Bosl Foundation), which has since promoted classical dance training in Bavaria and is a key cooperation partner of the Ballet Academy.

Konstanze Vernon hired internationally trained teachers and introduced the Russian Vaganova teaching method into the training concept.
At that time, the Munich Ballet Academy was the first German ballet training centre to base its teaching on the Vaganova method. Today, of course, other teaching methods are also used.

Directorate of the Ballet Academy

In autumn 2007, Konstanze Vernon handed over the directorate of the Ballet Academy to Robert North. The American dancer, choreographer and teacher had already gained experience as artistic director at the London Ballet Rambert, among others. Konstanze Vernon remained associated with the Ballet Academy throughout her life and passed away unexpectedly on 21 January 2013.

Since 2010, Prof. Jan Broeckx, originally from Antwerp, has been the Artistic Director of the Ballet Academy. Internationally sought-after as a guest dancer, ballet master and dance teacher, Broeckx was a member of the Ballet National de Marseille Roland Petit and the Bavarian State Ballet, both as a danseur étoile.

Since July 2025, the Ballet Academy has been run by a dual leadership team: Michaela Bosshard took over as Managing Director. Together with a management committee, Prof. Jan Broeckx and Michaela Bosshard are responsible for the academic operations and further development of the Ballet Academy.