Martin Schläpfer, born in Altstätten (Switzerland), fi rst studied ballet under Marianne Fuchs in St. Gallen (Switzerland). In 1977 he won the Swiss Prize at the Prix de Lausanne, after which he continued his studies at the Royal Ballet School in London under Terry Westmoreland and Maryon Lane. In 1978 he was engaged at the Basler Ballett under Heinz Spoerli. Many of Spoerli’s creations were specially developed for Martin Schläpfer. The ballet master Peter Appel greatly infl uenced his artistic and dance technique development. In 1983 he changed over to dancing as a soloist at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada and returned to the Basler Ballett a year later. Martin Schläpfer received further training from Anne Woolliams, Gelsey Kirkland, and David Howard. In 1990 he founded the ballet school Dance Place in Basel. From 1994 to 1999 he was director and chief choreographer of the Berner Ballett. Since 1999, Martin Schläpfer is the director and chief choreographer of ballettmainz. In 2002 he was awarded the Kunstpreis des Landes Rheinland-Pfalz, and in 2003 was the recipient of the Tanzpreis der Heinz Spoerli Foundation, which was conferred for the fi rst time.
