Kristina Paulin

Kristina Borbelyova Paulin

Who I am

Kristina Paulin is a Slovak choreographer and former dancer who has spent the majority of her professional life in Germany. This began with John Neumeier's Hamburg Ballet where she worked for over ten seasons, performing some of Neumeier's most iconic ballets as well as being an original cast member for numerous new creations that were premiered world wide. Kristina also possesses a master of arts degree in classical dance and dance pedagogy from the Slovak Performing Arts Conservatoire in Bratislava, which she completed in parallel to her dance career.

During her time in the Hamburg Ballet, Kristina discovered a passion for choreography and began to pursue this path with an absolute passion, culminating in an ultimate decision to leave the company in 2021 in order to fully devote herself to choreography.

In 2023, after only a short few years creating ballets across Europe and also abroad, Kristina Paulin was appointed vice ballet director and resident choreographer of the renowned State Ballet of Karlsruhe (Badisches Staatsballett Karlsruhe), and officially began her duties in this role as of September 2024.

Kristina uses a recognisable, narrative driven dance language which is influenced by both classical and contemporary elements. Her inspiration is drawn from a diverse variety of literature, music and biographical work. In the last two seasons she has created several pieces, her most recent creations include "Das Schloss" based off of the novel by Franz Kafka, as well her as her own interpretation of "Bolero", both created for the Badisches Staatsballett Karlsruhe. Next is "Gilded Reverie", a ballet created for Ballet Kiel and is based on the life and work of the famous painter Gustav Klimt. For Ballet Schwerin, Kristina created "Black Square", an abstract piece concentrating around powerful and striking movement, inspired by the painting of the same name by Kazmir Malevich. Kristina has also recently created two full length ballets - the first being Orpheus and Eurydice, which was created for and premiered with the Ballet Astana in Kazakhstan. It is a neoclassical adaptation of the timeless legend from Greek mythology. The second full evening ballet she created recently is named "December Rain", originally created as part of a triple bill for the Salzburger Landestheater. It is based on the biography of Frederic Chopin, depicting numerous aspects of his life including his rise to fame and success in his career, his romance with famous writer George Sand and the tragic, premature end of his life brought on by sickness. "Decemeber Rain" was commissioned to be extended to a full length production by the Vanemuine Ballet in Estonia where it has just finished playing for a second season.

Despite her personal success and achievements, Kristina remains confident and certain that her greatest inspiration for her work are the dancers she works with, the energy they bring to the studio as well as the creative process itself. She remains very grateful and thankful to those around her, who create and work with her and have helped her to breathe life into each of her ideas and bring them to a stage. Kristina continues to pursue choreography with the same passion and energy as the day she started it and seeks to continue to bring inspiring ballets to audiences around the world.

CONTACT

choreography@kristinapaulin.com