Martin Meng is a highly accomplished professional dancer and teacher who received his dance training from the Dutch National Ballet Academy/University of the Arts in his hometown of Amsterdam under the guidance of Professor Heinz Manniegel.
He has since performed with esteemed ballet companies such as the Dutch National Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, and the Ballett der Deutschen Oper Berlin. His repertoire includes solo roles in renowned ballets such as George Balanchine's "Theme and Variations" and "Who Cares?", Valery Panov's "Cinderella," Laszlo Seregi's "Romeo and Juliet," and many others, including creations by Roland Petit, Rudi van Dantzig, and José Limon.
During a summer course in Varna, Meng has had the privilege of working with several distinguished figures in the ballet world, including Vladilen Semionov, Sergei Berezhnoi, Tatyana Terekhova, and Irina Kolpakova. His participation in the course also provided him with the opportunity to take part in all the classes of the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Ballet during their tours to London, where he received further training under the guidance of Yevgeny Neff, Gennady Selyutski, and Olga Moiseyeva. In addition, he has worked with esteemed coaches such as Mikhail Lavrovsky (Bolshoi Ballet), Erik Bruhn (National Ballet of Canada), John Clifford, Susan Hendl (New York City Ballet), and Brigitte Thom (Deutsche Oper Berlin).
Meng has also worked as a ballet master at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw (now the Polish National Ballet) and as an international guest teacher for several high-profile ballet companies, including the Royal Swedish Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Gothenburg Ballet, Choreographic Theatre of Johann Kresnik at the Berliner Volksbühne, Ballet of the Opera na Zamku (Szczecin), and Flensburg Ballet. He has provided extensive coaching to dancers in internationally acknowledged productions of the great classical ballets, including Konstantin Sergeyev's "Swan Lake," Rudolf Nureyev's "Nutcracker," Anatoli Gridin's "Giselle," and Sir Frederick Ashton's "La Fille Mal Gardée."
Meng has also worked as a talent scout for the European School of Ballet and is currently focused on educating pre-professional dancers. He is invited regularly as an international guest teacher, a juror for competitions, and a personal trainer, and he specializes in teaching master classes and coaching students in audition preparation. His students, many of whom have been awarded scholarships, have been accepted to several top-tier schools, including the European School of Ballet in Amsterdam, Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg, Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, Hungarian State Ballet School in Budapest, Kirov Academy in Washington DC, Koninklijke Balletschool Antwerpen (Royal Ballet School in Antwerp), Netherlands Dance Theatre Summer Course, Escuela Victor Ullate in Madrid, Ellison Ballet in New York, The Ailey School (official school of The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) in New York, and Alonzo King's Lines in San Francisco.
