The Swede Johan Inger (born in Stockholm in 1967) joined Nederlands Dans Theater 1 (NDT 1) in 1990 and was a high-profile dancer of the company until 2002. His debut as choreographer (1995), also for NDT, quickly became promising with immediate recognition for his ballets Dream Play and Walking Mad. He received the Lucas Hoving Production Award in October 2001. Walking Mad was later also awarded the 2005 Danza & Danza Award. Inger left NDT to take on the artistic leadership of Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm in 2003 where he created numerous works. Since 2008, Inger has worked as a freelance choreographer and creates for many companies around the globe such as GöteborgsOperan, Ballet Basel, Swedish National Ballet, Compañía Nacional de Danza (CND), Aterballetto, Lyon Opera Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, and, of course, NDT, holding the position as Associate Choreographer from 2009 to 2016. Between 2016 and 2022, Inger choreographed his own versions of the narrative pieces Petrushka and Sleeping Beauty (Aurora’s Nap), and full evenings such as Carmen, Peer Gynt and Don Juan. He was honored with the Benois de la Danse prize in 2016 for his Carmen (CND, Madrid) and the piece One on One (NDT 2), and with the Danza & Danza Award in the same year for his piece Bliss, as well in 2020 for his Don Juan (Best Italian Production). In 2022, Inger also became artistic director of Take Off Dance, a training program for pre-professional dancers between the ages of 18 and 24 based in Seville.