Lienz Chang Oliva

He began his studies at age 10 at the School of Art in the Province of Matanzas; at age 15 he started at the National School of Art in the City of Havana and three years later he joined the dance corps of the National Ballet of Cuba. He began his professional career at the National Ballet of Cuba in 1986.

It was his parents, Caridad Oliva Valdés and Víctor Luis Chang Valladares, who "discovered" him. He started doing men's artistic gymnastics, which gave him muscle tone and physical conditions that helped him study ballet.

There are more dancers in the family: Yat-Sen Chang who is principal dancer of the English National Ballet in London, England; Lumei Chang, Teacher and Spanish dance dancer at Pro-Danza under the Direction of Laura Alonso and has her own company, and from the new generations, his son Oliver Chang, who is still studying at the Ballet School of L and 19; and Olivia Chang daughter of Yat-Sen Chang, also in London; also some cousins who are studying dance in Matanzas.

During seven years of his career he was partner to Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alicia Alonso, personally it is a unique experience, a great responsibility, he learned at her side the artistic and technical development of this art. It is a great honor and privilege to have shared the stage with Alicia Alonso, and to be among the partners who have made history at the National Ballet of Cuba, such as Igor Yuskevich, Azary Plisesky, Jorge Esquivel, Cyril Atanasov and Vladimir Vasilev.

During his professional life he has performed works such as Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Don Quixote, the Third Act of Sleeping Beauty, Electra Garrigó, Dionaea (Gustavo Herrera), La Peri, Azor, Poem of Fire, Prometheus (Alberto Méndez), Hamlet (Iván Tenorio), among others.

After this stage as partner to Alicia Alonso he had the great opportunity, thanks to a good friend, Michel Martín, to work with the great choreographer Roland Petit at the National Ballet of Marseille. Currently I am star and choreographic assistant of Roland Petit. He is currently Maitre de Ballet at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where free time does not exist, he is learning each day, especially some ballets he had never danced and which he must now teach, and is assistant to the répétiteurs or those responsible for staging these choreographies, such as The Prodigal Son (Balanchine), Romeo and Juliet, Manon (MacMillan), Onegin (Cranko), Herman Schmerman (Forsythe), Swan Lake (Nureyev), Pink Floyd Ballet (Roland Petit).

He began his career at the National Ballet of Cuba, a company in which he has developed an important career as Principal Dancer and Partner. His main teachers were: Alicia Alonso, Loipa Araujo, Laura Alonso, Jorge Esquivel, Lázaro Carreño, Karemia Moreno, Luis Sardiña, Raymond Franchetti, Michel Denard, Cyril Atanasov, and Azari Plisestsky.

He completed his studies obtaining the Gold Medal, Award for Best Partner, and Award for Best Couple at the National Festival of Ballet and Modern Dance in Havana. He debuted as a member of the National Ballet of Cuba in 1986.

At the beginning of his career at the National Ballet of Cuba, he attended a course by choreographer Antony Tudor, at the School and Company Le Grand Ballet Canadien, with Fernand Norht as his teacher; under the direction of Ludmila Cherieff.

In 1989 he danced for the first time with Alicia Alonso at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow in the ballet "Abandoned Dido" by Alicia Alonso, and at the International Festival of Edinburgh where he won the Critics' Prize. In 1992 he was given the category of Principal Dancer of the National Ballet of Cuba.

His remarkable technique characterizes him as an exceptional classical dancer and skilled partner and has allowed him to dance all the main roles of the great classical repertoire such as: Albrecht in "Giselle", Siegfried in "Swan Lake", Basilio and Espada in "Don Quixote", Prince Désiré in "Sleeping Beauty", Franz in "Coppelia", Gustav in "Cinderella", Colin in "La Fille Mal Gardée", among others. And also as partner to Alicia Alonso in other ballets such as: "Oedipus Rex", "Poem of Fire", and "Poem of Love and the Sea" by Alberto Méndez alongside Rudolf Nureyev.

Among the great theaters where he has danced are: Gran Teatro García Lorca (Cuba); Opera de París (France), Liceo de Barcelona (Spain), Bolshoi Theater (Russia), Teatro Arriaga de Bilbao (Spain), Royal Festival Hall of London (England); The King Theater Edinburgh; Victoria Theater of Melbourne (Australia), NHK Hall of Tokyo (Japan), Opera de Budapest (Hungary), Memorial Opera of San Francisco (USA), Teatro Albeniz of Madrid (Spain), Teatro Bellas Artes (Mexico), Teatro Maestranza of Seville (Spain), San Carlos of Naples (Italy); Teatro Municipal Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Jackie Gleason Theater, Miami (USA); among others.

He has been awarded the Gold Medal at the International Ballet Competition of Trujillo (Peru), Diploma of Honor at the International Ballet Competition of Varna (Bulgaria), and the MIN-ON Medal from the Concert Association of Tokyo (Japan).

He has danced at numerous international festivals such as Festival Castell de Perelada, Festival de Santander, Festival Itálica, Festival Madrid en Danza, Festival de Otoño de Madrid, Gran Temporada de Mallorca in Spain; Festival de Edimburgo (England), Festival Internacional de la Habana (Cuba), Festival de Danza de Joinville (Brazil), Festival Internacional de Miami (USA), Festival de Nervi (Italy), Festival de Melbourne (Australia); and La Maison de la Dansa de Lyon (France).

He has participated in numerous International Star Galas with different Principal Dancers of world-wide recognition: Dominique Khalfouni, Etoile Opera de Paris; Altynaï Asylmuratova, Etoile Kirov Ballet; Lucía Lacarra, Etoile San Francisco Ballet; Ana Botafogo, Etoile Teatro Principal de Rio de Janeiro; Marie Claude Pietragalla, Etoile Opera de Paris and Director of the National Ballet of Marseille; Sabrina Brazzo, Principal Dancer Scala di Milano; Lorna Feijóo, Principal Dancer National Ballet of Cuba; Rosario Suárez, Principal Dancer National Ballet of Cuba; Maria Gímenez, National Dance Prize; Eva López Crevillén, Principal Dancer of the National Dance Company Nacho Duato; Maria Teresa del Real, London Festival; Ambra Vallo, English National Ballet; Marcela Goicochea, Principal Dancer Teatro Principal Santiago de Chile.

In 1995 the English National Ballet invited him to dance the role of Romeo in Rudolf Nureyev's version of "Romeo and Juliet", in the presence of Princess Diana of Wales. He also danced alongside Alicia Alonso as her partner in her 50th Anniversary of her stage debut in "Giselle" at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico.

Since 1996 he has undertaken numerous international tours with the National Ballet of Cuba, and in the same year he joined the National Ballet of Marseille of Roland Petit as Principal Dancer becoming the ideal interpreter of his ballets: "The Nutcracker", "Carmen", "Coppelia", "The Leopard", "The Young Man and Death", "Ma Pavlova (Pas de deux Meditation of Thaís)", "Pink Floyd Ballet", "Proust or the Intermittences of the Heart".

At the beginning of 1998 in the season of guest choreographers at the National Ballet of Marseille, he danced "Song", choreography by Mauro Bigonzetti; "Aunis", choreography by Garnier; "Araigo" (Pas de Deux), choreography by Victor Ullate.

That same year Roland Petit created for Lienz Chang the role of The Man in Black in "Le Lac des Cygnes et Ses Málèfices" which has earned him the highest recognition from critics in France, Italy, Germany, Spain and the USA, standing out as one of the great figures of classical and contemporary ballet.

At the National Ballet of Marseille under the direction of Marie-Claude Pietragalla he dances "Corsica", choreography by Marie Claude Pietragalla; "Romeo and Juliet", choreography by Rudi Van Dantzig, and "Les Indomptes", choreography by Brumachon.

He was chosen to dance before Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain on two occasions: at the International Preparatory Conference on Women in Toledo 1995, and at the Auditórium of Palma de Mallorca in 1998; in the Grand Ballet Season, dancing with the company National Ballet of Marseille Roland Petit, in the role of The Man in Black of the ballet "Le Lac des Cygnes et Ses Málèfices".

In the year 2000 he was invited to dance with the Teatro Municipal de Río de Janeiro, in the revival of the Ballet Foresta Amazónica, choreography by Dallar Azcar. He organized in the same year a Tribute to Roland Petit at the Festivals Castell de Perelada, Gran Temporada de Mallorca, at the Auditórium of Palma de Mallorca and Festival Internacional de Las Palmas de Gran Canarias, at the Teatro Pérez Galdos.

In 2001 invited to the International Ballet Festival of Miami, at the Jackie Gleason Theater, with Principal Dancer Rosario Suárez. In these last two years he has participated in the Grand Dance Gala celebrated in the month of June in San Sebastián and Alcobenda, in Benefit Against Child Exploitation in the World.

In July 2002, he was invited to the season of the Teatro Apolo in Madrid, together with Flamenco Dancer Merche Esmeralda in the work "Amor Brujo" by choreographer Juan Carlos Santamaría.

In August 2002, he took the Summer Alicia Alonso Dance Course at Rey Juan Carlos University in San Lorenzo del Escorial; as Ballet Professor alongside Principal Dancer and Maitre de Ballet of the National Ballet of Cuba Loipa Araujo. At the end of this 2002 year, December 27, he premiered together with Flamenco Dancer Rafael Amargo "A tres Bandas", at the Millennium Festival held in Madrid at the Palacio de Congreso de Madrid and later at the Palacio de la Música de Barcelona on December 30.

In January 2003, he organized as artistic director a Charity Gala in La Coruña for the catastrophe caused by the ship Prestige, at Teatro Rosalía de Castro, in collaboration with the Alicia Alonso Dance Foundation Attached to Rey Juan Carlos I University; Universidad Da Coruña; Royal Spanish Federation of Gymnastics; Nuevo Ballet Español; and Joven Ballet de Cámara de Madrid.

In March 2003 he organized as Artistic Director for Rey Juan Carlos University and The Superior Institute of Dance "Alicia Alonso" the Opening Dance Gala, of the I Cultural Week, with invited dancers such as Ana Arroyo (Nuevo Ballet Español); Rafael Amargo (Flamenco dancer), Joven Ballet de Cámara de Madrid, and the Company ESS3.

August 2003, invited as Professor of Classical, Men's Variations and Adagio Class (Pas a Deux), at the 15th International Stage of Dance in Biarritz, alongside Professors Azari Plissetski, Dominique Khalfouni, Nicole Cavallin, Carole Arbo, Carole Philipp, Bruno Collinet, Jennifer Goubé and Ana Sánchez.

October 2003, he choreographed the Nutcracker Ballet, in conjunction with Maitre of the National Ballet of Cuba Loipa Araujo, with the World Premiere on December 12, 2003, with The Superior Institute of Dance Alicia Alonso, at the Teatro Del Bosque in Móstoles.

In January 2004, he was invited to the Dance Gala at the Teatro Gayarre, dancing the pas de deux of Nutcracker and Gotan choreography by Giuliano Peparini, accompanied by Olga Clavel Principal Dancer of the Joven Ballet de Cámara de Madrid.

In this same month of January 2004, he was invited to the season of the company Asami Maki Ballet in Japan, with the choreography "Pink Floyd Ballet" by the celebrated choreographer Roland Petit. The performances are February 7 and 8, 2004.

He continues with the tour through France from the 23rd to the 7th at Paris Theatre Suresnes Jean Vilar, from the 10th to the 13th Maison de la Danse Lyon; 16 Villeneuve sur Lot and 18 Casino de Bordeaux in March 2004, where he will premiere "Roland Petit Raconte ... ou les Chemins de la Création's", a program with dancers who have worked throughout the career of choreographer Roland Petit, such as Lucía Lacarra, Luigi Bonino, Jan Broeckx, Ken Kikuchi, and Fabio Aragao. This same program "Roland Petit Raconte", is held on October 30 and 31 at the Bolshoi Theater 2004, Moscow, Russia.

In December 2004 he continues his work as a classical dance teacher where he is invited to teach the Dance Stage of Albi, France and in February 2005, the Dance Stage of Gerard Collins, Valencia.

In the months of March and April 2005, he was invited to dance in the role of Izaydun in the work "Wallada". The Dream of a Córdoban Poet, alongside Spanish dancer Ana Arroyo in the role of "Wallada". A production where the styles of Flamenco, Spanish, Classical Dance, and live music are mixed.

In May 2005 he premiered the choreography "The Dream of Don Quixote" for the 400th Anniversary of Cervantes' Work Don Quixote de la Mancha at the Teatro del Bosque, Móstoles Madrid, consisting of III acts, I and III Act choreographed by Lienz Chang at Rey Juan Carlos University of the Superior Institute of Dance Alicia Alonso.

He participates in the 12th Summer Course of San Lorenzo del Escorial of the Alicia Alonso Chair from July 25 to August 5, 2005. He then continues to the International Dance Stage of Biarritz in its 17th edition from August 7 to 13, 2005.

He organizes with his company Ysworld.Com Producciones, SL the Dance Gala Igor Yebra and Stars of European Ballet at the Festival Jardins de Cap Roig in Girona, Barcelona 2005. He continues with the production of Pink Floyd Ballet by the celebrated choreographer Roland Petit at the Teatro Tivoli in Barcelona on September 1, 2, 3, 4, 2005.

Currently and since 2002 he began his work as Professor at the Superior Institute of Dance at Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid, in the category "Specialist in Choreography and Performance Techniques" of the Superior Degree in Dance in accordance with Royal Decree 1463/1999. And he continues his career as a professional dancer, and representing the work of the celebrated choreographer Roland Petit on all stages of the world as a guest in companies, galas and International Festivals.