Prof. Peter Breuer

Peter Breuer was born in Tegernsee, Germany, the son of pianist and conductor Peter Bruno Breuer.

At the age of eleven, he began his ballet training with Gustav Blank. The latter came from the world-famous Vaganova School in St. Petersburg. Peter Breuer signed his first contract with the Bavarian State Opera Munich at the age of fifteen, followed by a soloist contract with the ballet company of the German Opera on the Rhine Düsseldorf/Duisburg at the age of seventeen. His international career began in 1969 as a principal dancer guesting with the world-famous London Festival Ballet, and in 1971 he led to permanent engagements with the German Opera Berlin and the Bavarian State Opera Ballet Munich. In 1973, he became a permanent member of the London Festival Ballet. In 1979, he guest-danced at the American Ballet Theatre and the La Scala Theatre Ballet.

Tours led him to Australia, South America, Spain, Yugoslavia, Poland, France, the Czech Republic, the U.S.A., Venezuela, Japan, and the Philippines. Through the 1980s, Peter Breuer was considered one of the leading dancers of the international ballet world.

His first choreographies appeared in 1981 for the Bavarian State Opera Ballet Munich, the ballet company of the German Opera on the Rhine Düsseldorf/Duisburg, the German Opera Berlin, and the Budapest State Opera. He created two full evening Ballets, Tschaikowsky and Siegfried, for the State Ballet of Karlsruhe in Germany.

Since the Season 1991/1992, he has been the ballet director and the resident choreographer of the Salzburg Ballet at the State Theatre of Salzburg. He is known for his tradition of "storytelling" ballets. He has received critical acclaim from critics and audiences for his ballets, such as Peer Gynt, Orpheus and Eurydice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Marylin, Romeo and Julia, Sleeping Beauty, Thérèse Raquin, Tschaikowsky, and Carmen as well as his innovative ballets Angels, Lulu and Bach and Drums and The Wall. In 2011/2012, he created the ballet Elements as well as The Beatles and later Ballet'n Blues.

His ballets included Marie Antoinette, a modern version of The Fairy-Doll In the season 2013/2014, he choreographed a new version of Swan Lake. The ballet season 2013/2014 opened with his production of The Nutcracker and the rock ballet Dance for Satisfaction.

Then follows 2015 Mythos Coco and Deadly Sins. 2016 Gesualdo, Forever 27, and Cinderella with the Mozarteum Orch, Salzburg.

So far, he has created 54 full-length Ballets.

The Salzburg Ballet, under his leadership, has been touring regularly through Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Slovenia.

Peter Breuer received the Great Cross of Honour of the Austrian Government and the German Dance/Ballet Prize in 2015 for his lifework as a dancer and choreographer; it is considered the highest dance award in the dance world from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In 2017 he achieved the title of Professor from the Austrian President.