Andrey Kaydanovskiy
Biography
Andrey Kaydanovskiy is an Austrian choreographer and dancer of Russian descent, based in Vienna. He began his professional journey at the Vienna State Opera Ballet School, joining the company in 2007. By 2015, he had risen to the position of demi-soloist. After retiring from the stage at the end of the 2021/22 season, he devoted himself fully to his choreographic career.
His choreographic debut came in 2009 with Drei Unbekannte (Three Unknowns) at the ballet club of the Vienna State Opera and Volksoper during choreo.lab 09. He followed this with Love Song in 2014, a work that gained international attention, being performed by the Bolshoi Ballet in 2018 and the Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg in 2020.
Andrey's creative contributions to the Vienna State Ballet include Zeitverschwendung (Waste of Time, 2013), Das hässliche Entlein (The Ugly Duckling, 2013), and Der Feuervogel (The Firebird, 2017). His work lux umbra premiered at the Vienna Volksoper in 2022, and in October of the same year, Jolanthe & der Nussknacker (Jolanthe & the Nutcracker), a collaboration with Lotte de Beer, debuted.
Andrey has earned significant recognition for his works internationally. Tea or Coffee (2016), which premiered at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre in Moscow, was nominated for two categories at the prestigious Golden Mask Awards. His Pajama Party (2018) was also nominated for five Golden Mask Awards.
His work with the Bavarian State Ballet began in 2017, and from 2019 to 2022, he was a resident choreographer there. Highlights from his time in Munich include Cecil Hotel (2019), nominated for the Prix Benois de la Danse in 2020, and Der Schneesturm (The Blizzard, 2021), a full-length ballet set to an original composition by Lorenz Dangel, premiered at the National Theatre in Munich.
Andrey has also created significant works for the Czech National Ballet, including Perfect Example (2018), and contributed choreography for the ballet segments of the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert (2019). His work Die kahle Sängerin (The Bald Soprano, 2021) was created for the Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg. His most recent work, Chalk, premiered in 2024 at Ballett am Rhein.
At the Origen Festival Cultural in Switzerland, Andrey has presented full-length choreographic pieces such as Passengers (2021), Choice, Judgment and Control (2023), and Beef (2024), all featuring live music by Christof Dienz.
In December 2022, Andrey premiered a new version of Sleeping Beauty at the Linz Music Theatre in Austria.
His accolades include the 'Special Prize' for 'Best Dance Theatre Performer and Choreographer' at the International Dance Festival TANZOLYMP (2015), and the 'German Dance Award 2016' in the 'Future' category. He was named a 'promising talent' in the 2016 yearbook of tanz magazine for his exceptional and narrative dance style.
Andrey’s new work for the Czech National Ballet will premiere in 2025.