Urtzi Aranburu Adrada is originally from San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain. At the age of 9, he began his ballet studies with Mentxu Medel at Thalía Ballet School in San Sebastian. Starting at the age of 15, and for four years, he received scholarships to continue his ballet training with Luis Fuente at his ballet school in Madrid, Spain, where he graduated from the Royal High School of Drama and Dance.
He joined the Nederlands Dans Theater 2 in Den Haag, The Netherlands, in 1991 for two seasons under the direction of Gerald Tibbs. In 1993, Artistic Director Jiří Kylián promoted Urtzi to the main company, the Nederlands Dans Theater 1, under his direction. He then performed and toured internationally for fourteen seasons more.
Urtzi has worked extensively with Jiří Kylián and other renowned choreographers including William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Johan Inger, Hans van Manen, Mats Ek, and many more, creating and performing their works worldwide. From 2009 to 2013, he returned to the Nederlands Dans Theater 2 as Assistant of the Artistic Director Gerald Tibbs and as a Ballet Master.
Since 2013 Urtzi works as an Assistant for choreographer Jiří Kylián, setting and staging his works for numerous dance companies including Nederlands Dans Theater, Lyon Opera Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Norwegian National Ballet, Compañia Nacional de Danza Spain, Paris Opera, Washington Ballet, Denver Ballet, Ballett Zurich, Boston Ballet, and many more.
