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, with a strong focus on narrative ballet. Her choreographic career began with Oratio, created for Hamburg Ballet’s Young Choreographers programme in 2016, marking 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 primarily from close collaboration with dancers and from a wide range of artistic sources. Many of her works are rooted in literature, including Re-Embodiment (after Dante Alighieri) at the National Theatre Genoa (2019), The Holy Sinner (after Thomas Mann) for Hamburg Ballet (2018), and Sonnets of Michelangelo at Theater Kiel (2022). Other creations are inspired by visual art and mythology, such as Icarus for the Slovak National Theatre, as well as by music, including biographical works on composers, most notably Reflections of the Mind (Mozart), created with a live string quartet.

Her piece The Eye of God, 3rd Floor premiered in 2019 as part of the gala Mozart Moves! at the Salzburger Landestheater, and in 2022 she returned for the world premiere of 3 x Chopin. A defining hallmark of her choreographic style is the seamless integration of the technical precision of classical ballet with the expressive depth of contemporary dance.

Kristina’s recent creations include Gilded Reverie for Ballet Kiel, inspired by the life and work of Gustav Klimt, and Black Square for Ballet Schwerin, an abstract work driven by powerful physicality and inspired by Kazimir Malevich’s iconic painting. She has also created two full-length ballets: Orpheus and Eurydice, a neoclassical adaptation premiered with Ballet Astana in Kazakhstan, and December Rain, a biographical ballet on the life of Frédéric Chopin. Originally created as part of a triple bill for the Salzburger Landestheater, December Rain was later expanded into a full-length production for Vanemuine Ballet in Estonia, where it has just completed its second season.

Kristina has most recently created a new ballet, Fellini, 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.

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

Despite her achievements, Kristina remains deeply grounded in the collaborative process and continues to see the dancers she works with as her greatest source of inspiration. She approaches choreography with the same passion and curiosity that first led her to create, and remains committed to bringing emotionally resonant and artistically ambitious ballets to audiences around the world.

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