The Round Company Ltd
Mangement and Productions

Kristina Paulin was born in 1991 in Bratislava. She first trained at the Dance Conservatory in her hometown before completing her classical ballet education at the School of the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier. From 2010 to 2021 she danced with John Neumeier’s Hamburg Ballet—an influential period during which she discovered and began cultivating her passion for choreography. She also holds a degree in Dance Pedagogy from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava.

Paulin has since developed a distinctive movement language that merges classical technique with contemporary expression, always with a focus on creating narrative ballet. Her choreographic career began with Oratio, created for Hamburg Ballet’s Young Choreographers programme in 2016, which became the starting point of her path as a much-sought-after choreographer. She has since created more than 20 works for companies and theatres across Italy, Canada, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, and throughout Germany. She continues a close artistic relationship with dancers of the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier as a recurring guest choreographer.

Kristina Paulin draws her inspiration from close collaboration with dancers and from a wide range of artistic sources. Many of her works are rooted in literature—such as Re-Embodiment (Dante Alighieri) at the National Theatre Genoa in 2019, The Holy Sinner (Thomas Mann) for Hamburg Ballet in 2018, or Sonnets of Michelangelo at Theater Kiel in 2022. Other creations are inspired by visual art and mythology—including Icarus for the Slovak National Theatre and Eurydice and Ovid with members of Hamburg Ballet at Kampnagel K6; as well as by music, such as her biographical work on Mozart (Reflections of the Mind, with string quartet).

Her piece The Eye of God, 3rd Floor premiered in 2019 as part of the gala Mozart Moves! at the Salzburg Landestheater, and in 2022 she was invited back for the world premiere of 3 x Chopin. A key hallmark of her choreographic style is the seamless integration of classical ballet’s physical precision with the emotional and expressive depth of contemporary dance.

Since the 2024/25 season, Kristina Paulin has been appointed as Deputy Ballet Director at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe and House Choreographer at Staatsballett Karlsruhe.

Kristina is currently creating a ballet La Dolce Vita for the State Ballet of Karlsruhe — a semi-biographical work inspired by the life, legacy, and extraordinary cinematic universe of the legendary film director Federico Fellini.