Sam Winkler
Sam was born in Melbourne, Australia. Starting dance at seven years old, his passion grew and led him to join the Victorian Collage of the Arts Secondary School. Following arts high school Sam competed in the Prix de Lausanne, a prestigious ballet competition held in Lausanne, Switzerland, earning him a scholarship to the School of the Hamburg Ballet, Germany, where he spent years completing his dance training, working with the National Youth Ballet and the Hamburg Ballet Company.
Sam was the inaugural winner of the Prix de Lausanne’s Choreography competition, the Young Creation Award, with his work subsequently added to the competition’s contemporary repertoire, to be selected by future candidates alongside names such as Wayne Mcgregor and John Christoph Maillo.
Sam joined Tanzcompany Innsbruck, Austria. Dancing with the company as a soloist for two years, he performed lead roles in a variety of ballets as well as dancing works by choreographers such as Alexander Ekman, Nacho Duato, Enrique Gasa Valga and Jiri Kylian.