Reginaldo Oliveira

Creative Curator / Head Choreographer, Ballet

SLT / Tobias Witzgall

Reginaldo Oliveira completed his dance training in Rio de Janeiro, among others with Jorge Teixeira.

In 1998, he won the Russian Ballet Competition in São Paulo and received a scholarship to study at the State Academy of Choreography of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. In 2000, he became a member of the ballet company at the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro under the direction of Richard Cragun, where he was promoted to the rank of soloist after three years.

For the 2006/2007 season, he moved to Germany to join the Badisches Staatsballett Karlsruhe under Prof. Birgit Keil. There, he presented his first original choreographic works as part of “Choreographers Present Themselves” and at the gala of the Birgit Keil Dance Foundation. In a project shown in several exhibitions throughout Germany, he explored sculptural works by artist Gerlinde Beck through choreography and film.

In 2014, his first commissioned work, “Der Fall M”, was created at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe as part of the ballet evening “Mythos”. Bruna Andrade, who danced the role of Medea, received the German Theatre Award “Der Faust” in the category “Best Performance in Dance” for her interpretation in this work.

Another major success followed in 2015, when Oliveira choreographed the opening show for the 300th anniversary of the city of Karlsruhe for the State Ballet. With “Anne Frank”, he created his first full-length narrative ballet, which premiered in April 2016 at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe and was met with great acclaim from audiences and critics alike. The magazine “tanz” named him—among others—“Choreographer of the Year” for this work.

In the following year, Oliveira was initially appointed Principal Choreographer at the Salzburg State Theatre. He made his debut there with “Medea – Der Fall M.” as part of the “Dionysien” at the Felsenreitschule. The opening of the new rehearsal centre in Aigen in May 2018 was marked by “Balacobaco”, a ballet celebration of Brazilian joie de vivre. In November 2018, as the newly appointed Artistic Director of Ballet, he created his first full-length narrative ballet for Salzburg audiences with “Othello”.

This was followed by a series of further productions, including “Romeo and Juliet”, “Anna Karenina”, “Tanto…Tango!”, “Lili, the Danish Girl”, “The Creation of Light” (directed by Carl Philip von Maldeghem), the choreography for the double bill “Jolanthe/The Nutcracker”, and a new version of Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty”.

For Mozart Week 2019, he organized a ballet gala in honour of the Salzburg composer together with its artistic director Rolando Villazón. For La Scala in Milan and the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, he created the choreography for “Idomeneo”, directed by Matthias Hartmann.

In the 2024/25 season, Oliveira explored the life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in his ballet “Frida’s World”. In autumn 2025, this choreography celebrated its successful premiere at the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro. In the current season, he created the world premiere “Rosa” to music by the Catalan pop and flamenco artist Rosalía as part of the triple bill “Carmen / Rosa / Boléro”.

Last updated: January 2026