Philippe Kratz was born in Leverkusen (Germany) in 1985 and from a young age has been performing in Suheyla Ferwer’s tanztheater project Bühnenkunst. From 2002, he started professional training at École supérieure de danse du Québec in Montreal and later at the Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin. After graduating he joined Xin Peng Wang’s Ballett Dortmund. In 2008, by invitation of director Cristina Bozzolini, Philippe Kratz becomes part of Aterballetto in Reggio Emilia, Italy, performing in works by Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, William Forsythe, Hofesh Shechter and Rihoko Sato among others.

From 2010 Philippe starts creating smaller choreographic works for dancers of Aterballetto like the pieces Lettres d’amour (2012), SPRING (2013). In 2014 his piece SENTieri (2014) debuts and an excerpt of it is presented with the Wiener Staatsballett in 2016. His first commissioned work for Aterballetto is L’eco dell’acqua (2015), a piece for sixteen dancers, which is a take on Goethe’s 1779 poem Gesang der Geister über den Wassern. The same year, he sets the short pas de deux #hybrid to Romare’s mix of electronic sounds and samples of Afro-American music. It is an experiment combining classical pointe work with upbeat rhythmicity. Phoenix (2017), set for nine dancers, is a turning point in Philippe’s approach to choreography due to its rather conceptual structure, the inclusion of theme-based improvisation as a part of the creation process and, most of all, its original music by Italian composer Borderline Order which he co-produces. The duet O (2018) is his first work featuring himself, alongside Ivana Mastroviti, and wins him the first prize at the 32nd International Choreographic Competition in Hanover as well as an artistic residency at the Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide. His choral work cloud|material (2019), which premieres at the Oriente Occidente Festival in Rovereto, Italy, is inspired by the writings of Bauhaus artist and weaver Anni Albers.

After being called „Hoffnungsträger“ by TANZ magazine in 2014 and 2017, in January of 2020 Philippe was awarded Choreographer of Year by Danza&Danza magazine.

His new creation for À Jour - Contemporary Choreographies 2020 will be his first work for the Bayerisches Staatsballet.

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