Etienne Ferrère

Etienne's journey into dance began in France, sparked by the magic of circus arts. In 2003, he was accepted into the prestigious Paris Opera Ballet School, where he performed works by George Balanchine, José Martinez, Claude Bessy, John Neumeier, and Nils Christe. His time at the school also took him across Europe, Japan, and the United States. After graduating, Etienne joined the Paris Opera Ballet Company for the 2009/2010 season.

In November 2010, he moved to Singapore to join Singapore Ballet (formerly Singapore Dance Theatre). He was promoted to First Artist in 2014 and to Principal in 2018.

In 2021, a new creative voice began to emerge. Etienne stepped into choreography, creating three original pieces for Singapore Ballet: Singular (2021), Faux Contact (2022), and Don't Panic! (2023) — for which he also designed and made the costumes. More recently, he created Ebb and Flow (2025) for the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore and Unseen (2026) for Taipei Capital Ballet. Beyond the stage, he founded Ballet 101, a beloved annual educational program in Singapore (since 2024), designed to open the door to ballet for new audiences.

Alongside his ballet career, Etienne was also an aerial circus artist. He has performed yearly with Bornfire Circus at the Flipside Circus Festival, and from 2020 to 2023, he designed and created costumes for their productions. Since 2021, he has been an essential part of the production team for Aerial Open Stage and Circus Open Stage — two programs Bornfire created to offer performance opportunities to Singapore's circus community. His roles there have included Project Manager, Stage Manager, and Stage Director.

Founder / Artistic Director