BIOGRAPHY
Born in Mons, Belgium, Aurélien completed his training at the prestigious school of the “Royal Ballet of Flanders” and was subsequently accepted in the company in 1992.
During his three years under the leadership of Robert Denvers, Aurélien worked with choreographers such as Paolo Bortoluzzi, Ib Andersen, Mauricio Wainrot, Violette Verdy, Peter Anastos and performed several works from George Balanchine.
In 1996, he worked at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein under Heinz Spoerli. In Dusseldorf, Aurélien performed works from Hans Van Manen, Eric Walter, William Forsythe and Heinz Spoerli.
In 1997, Aurélien moved to the State Theatre Wiesbaden under Ben Van Cauwenbergh’s leadership. There, Aurélien worked intensively on his classical ballet technique and performed the principal roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, The Nutcracker and Romeo & Juliet. He also worked with Valery Panov on his ballet The Three Sisters and with Maina Gielgud on Maurice Bejart’s Bhakti.
Between 2000 and 2002, Aurélien worked as a freelance Principal Dancer. During that period, he performed at various galas and festivals around the globe. Polish choreographer Tomasz Kajdanski created the role of Armand on him in La Dame aux Camelias and the role of Dr Faust in the world creation of Abraxas. This ballet was performed during one month in Munich at the Prinz Regent Theatre.
In 2002, Aurélien joined the Deutsche Oper Berlin under Sylviane Bayard’s directorship. In this iconic theatre, he performed works from Jiri Kylian, Ray Barra, Heinz Spoerli, Mario Schroder, Youri Vamos and Angelin Preljocaj.
While based in Berlin, Aurélien was also a member of the contemporary company “Gregor Seyffert & Company” and went on European tours with Juan Carlos Garcia’s contemporary ballet Light in Shadows.
In 2004, Richard Wherlock invited Aurélien to join Ballett Basel where he worked with some of the most prestigious choreographers such as Angelin Preljocaj, Nacho Duato, Claude Brumachon, Patrick Delcroix, Mauro Bigonzzetti, Hans Van Manen and Jiri Kilyan.
In 2008, Aurélien decided to retire from his dancing career to focus on teaching. He quickly became one of the most sought-after guest teachers and was regularly invited by the following companies: Ballet Preljocaj; Scapino Ballet; National Ballet of Portugal; Dutch National Ballet; Ballet d’Europe; Bejart Ballet Lausanne; Bordeaux Opera Ballet; Lyon Opera Ballet; Finnish National Ballet; Hong Kong Ballet; Estonian National Ballet; Royal Swedish Ballet and Ballet du Rhin.
On January 1st, 2013, Aurelien was appointed Artistic Director of West Australian Ballet (Perth). He remained with WA Ballet until December 31st, 2023.
Since January 2024 Aurelien is working as a Freelance Ballet Teacher, Rehearsal Director, Stager and Producer.
In March 2024, he founded Productions Trade, the first and unique platform that recycles ballet and dance productions around the world.
Aurélien has taught master classes in Paris, Brussels, Rotterdam, Tokyo, Cannes, at the Youth America Grand Prix semi-finals in Osaka and at the VIBE International Ballet Competition held in Seoul.
During his career Aurélien participated in a large number of international galas and festivals around the world performing various works such as In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, Giselle, Swan Lake, Gopak, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote.
Aurélien was twice invited to Ukraine to be part of the World Ballet Stars Festival organised by Vadim Pisarev where he was sharing the stage with stars such as Vladimir Malakoff, Jose Manuel Carreno, Ulyana Lopatkina and Ludmilla Semeniaka.
He was also invited by UNESCO to perform Giselle and Swan Lake in Belgrade with Principal Dancer Beatrice Knopp and in Ankara to perform Le Corsaire.
Monique Loudières, former Etoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, invited Aurélien to perform with Principal Dancer Sandy Delasalle In the Middle Somewhat Elevated from William Forsythe at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.
Aurélien was invited by Uwe Scholz, to perform Swan Lake at the Gala Millennium 2000. Performance conducted by Russian conductor, Mikhail Jurowski.
Invited by the Belgian Minister for the Arts, Charles Pique, to perform Romeo & Juliet in Liege, Belgium and performed Maurice Béjart’s Bhakti in Madrid.
In 2019 Aurélien was made “Knight in the Order of Leopold” (Chevalier dans l'Ordre de Léopold) by His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium for services to the Arts.