António Casalinho

António Casalinho was born in Leiria, Portugal, where he completed his ballet studies from the age of 8 at the Annarella Sanchez International Conservatory of Ballet and Dance, which follows the Cuban methodology.

He is a multi award winner, winning prizes in every international competition he has entered. Amongst others, in 2021 at the Prix de Lausanne, he won both the First Prize and Contemporary Prize; in 2019, the Grand Prix at the Beijing International Ballet Competition; in 2018 he swept the board in Varna with the Special Distinction Award in the Junior Category, the Emil Dimitrov Prize for Young Talent, Promising Young Dancer and Bounty Award for the youngest Round 3 competitor; at YAGP he took the Grand Prix Award in the Junior and Senior category in 2016 and 2018. António is the only dancer to have won all four of these notable competitions.

In 2017 he won the Got Talent competition, and in 2020 he was the winner of Batalha dos Jurados, both in Portugal.

Now 18, he joined the Bayerisches Staatsballett, Munich, as a Soloist for the 2021-2022 season. His Repertoire there includes the Pas de Trois in Emeralds and four men in Rubies, both Autumn and Benjamin in Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella, the Peasant Pas in Giselle and Benno in Swan Lake. He is currently rehearsing Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and a creation by David Dawson.

Since 2019 he has performed several full length ballets: James in La Sylphide act 2, Albrecht in Giselle, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. Other highlights have been the Gilpin solo in Variations for Four (Dolin) and Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty Act 3, all staged by Maina Gielgud, and partnering Margarita Fernandes.

He has appeared in a number of gala performances in Nervi, Sintra, Barcelona, New York, Costa Rica, Los Angeles, Mexico and Beijing, performing Le Corsaire, Flames of Paris, La Sylphide, the Talisman, Gopak, The Sleeping Beauty and Grand Pas Classique.

In February 2022 he was a guest performer in Bolonha, Italy, with Roberto Bolle and Friends. On 13 March 2022 he will participate in The Ballet Icons Gala at the London Colliseum.

Recognised as a prodigious talent with an exceptional classical ballet technique, musicality, artistic quality and acting ability, António is equally at home in contemporary works.