Gilles Maidon

Gilles Maidon began his professional training with Raymond Franchetti in France. He then joined the Ballet National de Marseille under the direction of Roland Petit. Mr. Maidon quickly rose to the rank of soloist, dancing in Notre Dame de Paris and La Sylphide. He danced in the televised versions of Roland Petit's Carmen with Mikhail Baryshnikov and The Magic of Dance with Dame Margot Fonteyn. Mr. Maidon also taught the role of Quasimodo, in Notre Dame de Paris, to Rudolf Nureyev.

In 1983 Mr. Maidon joined the Ballet de Santiago as a principal dancer adding Giselle, Swan Lake, Anna Karenina, The Three Musketeers, The Taming of the Shrew, Rosalinda and the title role in Peer Gynt to his repertoire. In 1989, he joined the Cincinnati Ballet as a principal dancer. Mr. Maidon further expanded his repertoire to include principal roles in Coppélia, The Great Gatsby, Sergeant Early's Dream, and La Sylphide. In 1990, he joined Ballet West as a principal dancer. Mr. Maidon's repertoire also includes principal roles in Lady of the Camellias, Bonjour Brel, and Pulcinella among others. He also created the role of Herman in André Prokovsky's Queen of Spades.

In 1998, Mr. Maidon was invited to create a Dance Program at Waterford School in Sandy, Utah and held the position of Department Chair. He has taught company classes for Ballet West, the Houston Ballet, as well as for the Ballet West Conservatory. Mr. Maidon now teaches on a regular basis at the University of Utah, Utah Ballet, Utah Regional Ballet and the Brigham Young University Ballet Company.

He was part of the choreography team for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Mr. Maidon was also a choreographer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Asian Games 2006 in Qatar. Most recently, he has assisted André Prokovksy stage The Three Musketeers for Ballet West (UT) in 2006 and Anna Karenina for Ballet de Santiago (Chile), and The Great Gatsby for the Louisville Ballet (KY) in 2008.