Bernice Coppieters was born in Termonde, Belgium on November 16th, 1970. In 1980, she began to study dance at the Antwerp Institute of Ballet and in 1988 entered the Royal Ballet of Flanders where she was promoted soloist.
She joined Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo in 1991. From 1992, her encounter with Jean-Christophe Maillot marked the beginning of an exceptional collaboration that has lasted for almost 30 years. In 1995 Bernice Coppieters is named Etoile of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, by H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover.
Bernice Coppieters has inspired Jean-Christophe Maillot to create his most memorable characters in ballets: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, the Fairy Godmother and Wicked Stepmother in Cinderella, Meier in the Drosselmeier couple in Casse-Noisette Circus, Beauty in La Belle, Titania in Le Songe, Death in Faust, Princess Sheherazade in Sheherazade, Her Majesty the Night in LAC. She has thus interpreted more than forty creations by Jean-Christophe Maillot for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo since 1992, but also the Russian Ballets repertoire and the Balanchine repertoire of the Monaco’s company. Throughout her career, she has also collaborated with many choreographers invited by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo such as Karole Armitage, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Lucinda Childs, Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Marco Goecke, Jiří Kylián, Twyla Tharp… and Maurice Béjart gave her the chance to dance his Boléro.
In recent years, Bernice Coppieters has staged Jean-Christophe Maillot’s productions for major dance companies including the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Essen Ballet, the National Ballet of the Vienna Opera, the National Ballet of Korea, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Prague National Theatre, the Atlanta Ballet Company, the Royal Flanders Ballet and the Staatsballett Berlin.
In 2015, Bernice Coppieters was named Principal Ballet Master of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. Since then, she has assisted Jean-Christophe Maillot in all his creations, including The Tame of the Shrew created with the Bolshoi Ballet.
Awards and distinctions :
1988, she won the Prix de Lausanne
2002, she is named Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit of the Principality of Monaco
2011, she is the winner of the Benois de la Danse in the category “dancer”
2015, she is appointed Officer of the Order of Cultural Merit of the Principality of Monaco
