Iulian Anatol Ermalai was born in Cluj – Napoca in Romania. He was admitted to the Octavian Storia Secondary Ballet School at the age of ten. He soon started to appear in the opera and ballet productions of the Romanian National Opera Theatre.

In 1991 he passed the audition in the SNG Opera in balet Maribor (Slovenian National Theatre Opera and Ballet Maribor), where he remained enagaged for two seasons. He also danced in the City Theatre in Klagenfurt and in the State Theatre in Salzburg (Austria). In 1994 he became a member of the Ballet Ensemble of the SNG Opera in balet Ljubljana (Slovenian National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana), where he was promoted to soloist in April 2005.

Throughout his many seasons in the Ljubljana Ballet Ensemble he has developed into an important dancer of both minor and solo roles. He excelled in the following ballet performances: Love Stories, Coppélia on Montmartre (Coppélius and Chief of Police), Swan Lake (Court Jester and Pas de trois), The Nutcracker – A Christmas Carol (Bob Crachit, Ghost of Death and Spaniard), Don Quixote (Sancho Panza), Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio), Picko and Packo (Packo), La Bajadère (Golden Idol and Madavaya Fakir), La Sylphide (Gurn), La Fille mal gardée (Alain), The Sleeping Beauty (Bluebird), Trobenta in Vrag (The Trumpet and the Devil) (Devil), Giselle (Peasant Pas de deux) and Orpheus (The Greek Boy).

Last updated in January 2017