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Michaela Bosshard appointed Managing Director of the Ballet Academy

Michaela Bosshard appointed Managing Director of the Ballet Academy

New dual leadership at the Ballet Academy

8. May ’25

On 1 July 2025, Michaela Bosshard will become Managing Director of the Ballet Academy at our university, the only state-run training institution for professional stage dance in Bavaria. She is currently project manager for the promotion of young talent at the professional association »Danse Suisse« and a lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts. From 1 July 2025, the Ballet Academy of the HMTM will thus be headed by a dual leadership: the Academy’s Artistic Director, Prof. Jan Broeckx, and the new Managing Director Michaela Bosshard will be jointly responsible for all academic and business operations of the Ballet Academy in close cooperation with the management committee.

With the appointment of a dual leadership, the HMTM is strengthening the structures of the Ballet Academy and reaffirming its goal of designing the curriculum and study conditions in such a way that students at the Ballet Academy are holistically prepared for a professional dance career. This measure is another step in the HMTM’s 7-point plan, which it launched in April 2024 in response to the findings of the study »Abuse of power, discrimination and sexualised violence at HMTM«.

Prof. Lydia Grün, President of the HMTM:
»Professional ballet training is undergoing radical change worldwide – the holistic perception of young dancers, empowerment, diversity and health are essential topics for a sustainable professional dance education. The educational concept and health policy of our ballet academy are essential guidelines for our study programmes. By appointing a dual leadership, we are creating a powerful management team that will work together to drive forward the development and implementation of the challenging tasks that lie ahead even more strongly than before.«

Looking ahead to her new role at the Ballet Academy, Michaela Bosshard explains:
»I am very much looking forward to helping shape the Ballet Academy and further strengthening dance as an art form and a profession. It is important to me to develop goals together and to implement the Ballet Academy’s vision of contemporary dance education in such a way that it offers students a safe and supportive environment in which they can develop artistically and personally. This requires a solid and resilient team that is characterised by transparent communication and based on trust. I look forward to working with the team at the Ballet Academy and the entire HMTM, and to meeting the students!«

About Michaela Bosshard

Michaela Bosshard has a diverse professional profile and extensive experience in the field of dance. Her career as a dancer took her to New York, where she performed with the Martha Graham Dance Company and Graham II under the direction of Yuriko, among others, and collaborated with numerous choreographers from the New York dance scene.

After returning to Switzerland, Michaela Bosshard worked for the Swiss professional dance association »Danse Suisse« where she played a key role in talent development projects under the direction of Gianni Malfer and Liliana Heldner Neil. In 2016, Michaela Bosshard took over project management for the professional association’s entire youth development programme, namely the »Talent Scouting Days« and »summerdance«, a support project for talented dancers in pre-professional training. She is also responsible for continuing education programmes for dance teachers and dancers at Danse Suisse.

In parallel to her work for Danse Suisse, Michaela Bosshard has been a faculty member of the Bachelor’s programme in Contemporary Dance at the Zurich University of the Arts under the direction of Samuel Wuersten and Gianni Malfer since 2014. She contributed to the development of the programme as part of her teaching activities.

Since 2019, Michaela Bosshard has been chief expert in the canton of Zurich for the final examinations of the vocational training programme for stage dancers with a Federal Certificate of Competence (EFZ – Eidgenössisches Fähigkeitszeugnis). In this role, she is responsible for implementing the qualification procedure and for coordinating and organising the final examinations.

Michaela Bosshard holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies (First-class Honours) from the Open University (OU) UK and a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy (with distinction) from the University for Peace (UPEACE) in Costa Rica.

Ballet Academy of the HMTM

The Ballet Academy of the 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 the Free State of Bavaria. A total of more than 100 talented young people study at the Ballet Academy, including children aged 8 to approx. 15 in the junior programme and teenagers and young adults aged approx. 16 to approx. 20 in the Bachelor’s programme and in a master class programme in conjunction with the Bayerisches Jugendballett München (Bavarian Youth Ballet in Munich).

Since October 2020, the educational concept, which focuses on the holistic development of young dancers, has formed the binding basis for all teachers in the degree programmes at the Ballet Academy of the HMTM. This concept not only makes the training content and objectives of the Ballet Academy transparent, but also describes the values of the training work and creates clear feedback and complaint structures. The educational concept was supplemented in the summer semester of 2024 by a clear health policy for the Ballet Academy. The health policy integrates measures and standards from the fields of dance medicine, nutrition science and mental health into everyday life at the Ballet Academy.

The Ballet Academy was founded in the 1964/1965 academic year as part of what is now the University of Music and Theatre Munich. It has thus stood for professional and career-oriented ballet training for over fifty years.