Archive for john neumeier
February 26, 2008 at 5:38 pm · Filed under dance, student, john neumeier, performance, san francisco ballet, MADISON
Photo Credits:
San Francisco Ballet School Students in Neumeier’s “Yondering” © Chris Hardy
Being the infamous procrastinator that I am I am finally going to write about the amazing experience I had in San Francisco during January. As many of you may know this is a huge year for San Francisco Ballet, it marks the 75th Anniversary of both the company and the school. So, it should be no surprise that the Gala, the kick-off of SFB’s 2008 season, was quite the event.
This Gala was especially different for the school because many of the dancers in the top levels got to perform. Not only did the school have this amazing opportunity and exposure at such a major event, but we all got the chance to work with John Neumeier for a couple of days before the gala. We performed his ballet, Yondering, which was created in 1996 for the Hamburg Ballet School and since has been performed by such schools as The National Ballet School and The Paris Opera Ballet School. This was the first time that any American school was privileged enough to perform this ballet, and I felt honored to be in the premier. I felt even more fortunate because I performed one of the lead parts for the girls.
I have always been a huge fan of Neumeier’s choreography, but somehow I learned to love it even more after working with him. Everything was so meaningful and every single movement had a very specific reason behind it. John Neumeier is a true artist. He understands everything that I believe ballet should represent. I could go on for days about all of this but I am going to talk about one incident that will always stick in my mind. At the end of the ballet there is a section that revolves around the death of a child. In order for us to get the correct feeling of what John wanted he started explaining what was going on. That sounds very logical and simple I guess, but it was so much more than that. While he was explaining these intense emotions and feelings to us he was speaking in a very matter of fact way. During this he paused for a second and while a single tear streamed down his face he continued. There was not one ounce of shame or embarrassment as he began to get so emotional and I admire that so much. Human emotion is a beautiful thing and I feel that too many people are constantly trying to hide those emotions. I respect this man so much and I hope to be able to work with him again one day soon.
From what I got to see in dress rehearsal the rest of Gala was mind-blowing, but there is no surprise there. If you want to read more about it here is just one review from the night… http://danceinsf.blogspot.com/2008/01/sf-ballet-gala-1232008.html
Here are some more pictures.
This one is my roommate and myself in the dressing room after the show.
Here is a picture of the cast of Yondering. Sorry the quality of the picture is so bad.
In the middle from left to right is Lola De Avila (associate director of the school), John Neumeier, and Jean-Yves Esquerre (assistant to the artistic director, as well as the trainee program supervisor)
Recent Posts by Madison Keesler
February 2, 2008 at 12:13 pm · Filed under ballet, dance, choreographers, video, SUSAN, contemporary, website, students, hamburg ballet, john neumeier, performance, competition, tickets, switzerland, blogging, paris opera ballet, bejart
© Prix de Lausanne
Exciting news: The final competition round of the Prix de Lausanne will be broadcast live on Sunday 3 February, starting at 3.00pm CET (Central European Time). To watch the competition, simply click here.
The Prix de Lausanne is an international ballet competition that takes place every year in Lausanne, Switzerland. Dancers between the ages of 15 and 18 have been competing in this year’s 36th annual Prix all week long. Judging them are some big names: Altynai Asylmuratova (Kirov Ballet), Elisabeth Platel (Paris Opera Ballet) and Anna Maria Prina (La Scala Ballet). Hamburg Ballet’s Director and Chief Choreographer John Neumeier is serving as the 2008 President of the jury.
This year, the finals will not only feature the competitors, but will also showcase two of Neumeier’s works. The first will be his Opus 100, in tribute to the late choreographer Maurice Béjart. The second will be Yondering, which will feature students from the Hamburg Ballet School, the Paris Opera Ballet School and the National Ballet School of Canada.
If you weren’t able to purchase tickets to the sold-out performance or if, like me, you are not able to attend the performance in Lausanne, this is a most excellent and very accessible alternative. Also, for anyone who is interested, the Prix de Lausanne has set up a videoblog to chronicle the competition experiences of six participants. Check it out here.
Recent Posts by susan kim
February 8, 2007 at 11:58 pm · Filed under SLOAN, dance, brooklyn, opera house, brooklyn academy of music, hamburg ballet, john neumeier, lloyd riggins, set design
Posted by Sloan
City/Train.
Last night I crossed the river and headed to the Brooklyn Academy of Music to see the Hamburg Ballet in John Neumeier’s Death in Venice.
I’m not even sure where to start in trying to describe this production. I think I was already excited by the beautiful design that brought me here in the first place. I love BAM’s website, and the photo they are using to promote this piece is stunning. On top of that, Hamburg Ballet’s website is also unusually beautiful and well organized. Arriving to the theater, we were confronted by all the chic New Yorkers, Isabella Rossellini among them, who know how good BAM’s programming is and are willing to brave the frigid temperatures to see some great art.
Our seats were in the third row of the mezzanine (fantastic) and as we sat down we got to take in the slick looking drop, which I guess is a diagram of a gondola. Also, the stage had been built out over the orchestra pit, adding a great amount of depth to the stage, and also exposing the white marley (i.e. fancy dance floor material) which was lit so that it appeared to glow. In plain view on the extended stage area were a black chair, a camera, and a grand piano.
The lighting throughout the piece was beautiful, and it is interesting to note that it was also designed by the choreographer. When the drop/curtain first rose, the light spilled onto the extended stage in an exact line, as if a door of light were opening across the width of floor. So cool.
I’m not going to get into the story, even though I probably should. There’s a lot goin on there. It’s an adaptation of the novella by the same name, written by Thomas Mann. It worked very well, the timeless theme of a struggling artist, and a rather depressing ending.
I usually try not to post photos from other websites, but this piece was just so beautiful, there’s no way I can do it justice by trying to describe it. Images © Holger Badekow
The piece began with Lloyd Riggins (the lead character, Aschenbach, a revered but frustrated choreographer with an appropriate black turtleneck) on stage with Laura Cazzaniga who portrayed multiple roles within the piece. The first few minutes were silent, except for a big sigh by Riggins. I had the feeling that I was at a play rather than a dance performance, which is a good thing.
The set design was incredible as well. For the first portion of the piece there were two large panels on either side of the stage with space between and space behind from which dancers appeared. At one point the background between the two panels became a mirror (Aschenbach is a choreographer and this seemed to be when he was working). The effect was really amazing from our seats, as we could see the back of the dancer, the glowing white floor, and the rows of audience members before him. At another point, it was actually raining in the background area, with a bit of fog and the wonderful sound of the rain.
Later the side panels disappeared, and for this scene, tall skinny panels floated across the space. The scale and simplicity of the design made the perfect environment in which to display the beautiful dancing.
This was one of my favorite scenes, with drops that look like trees reflected in water.
Edvin Revazov portrayed Aschebach’s infatuation/inspiration, Tadzio, wonderfully. The interaction between the two of them was intense.
In the section entitled Metamorphosis, Aschenbach sits in a hairdresser’s chair… “We are only so old as we feel in our hearts and minds. A man in your position has a right to his natural hair color.”
When watching Lloyd Riggins, I felt as if I were seeing the performance of a great actor, as well as dancer. No detail was missed or thrown away in order to get to a snazzy step. It was all important and intentional. Edvin Revazov was right there with him, and reminded me a bit of a blonde Clark Kent.
The music was also effective, with a recurring theme of the same Bach piece, played by different instruments in different places throughout the work. This was interspersed mostly with Wagner, and a little Yngwie Malmsteen thrown in.
Something extra which I thought was interesting, was that when I got my “BAMbill” I recognized the cover art as a piece of art I had just scene in the lobby. In the program it says that the proceeds from the sale of this art goes towards supporting BAM. So does BAM commission a new piece every season which is then sold, or is it donated? Either way, a neat idea. The piece is by Melora Kuhn.
Also, this chandelier was crazy. Good crazy. Microphones out of some mystery material that looked like it might glow in the dark. It’s in the upstairs space if you want to visit it.
Oh, and of course we can’t forget the requisite ceiling shot. This is a pretty good one.
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
December 13, 2006 at 11:54 am · Filed under dance, choreographers, germany, EVAN MCKIE, john neumeier
| Posted by Evan McKie
Hi everybody! I have returned from my (kind of long) hiatus…
…The thing is that right now there is barely even time to do any holiday shopping (at the 300-year-old Stuttgarter Christmas Market above,) which doesn’t make me all that sad because a) I hate crowds and b)the lack of free-time always means there is lots of exciting stuff going on at work… ALOT.
I was just wondering what it would be like if David and I had the chance to do a ‘Freaky Friday’ experiment where we’d switch places for a day. This is not just because of his juicy role in ‘The Green Table’ but because the idea of two, very short and action-packed seasons with a lot of scattered ‘guesting’ every year seems so foreign to me right now. Cool, but definitely foreign. Our season, like in Paris or at Covent Garden is 11 months with very little free time. We are so lucky to have such an incredible audience, so many performances and a wonderfully diverse repetoire… Sometimes we forget to count our blessings though 
like yesterday, when a few dancers gave dubuts in a special Gala performance at 11 o’clock in the morning only to come back and dance for the first time in a completely different part during the 7 o’clock performance of ‘’Lady of the Camellias.'’ NEVER DULL, seriously….
However, watching Winter unfold without me here at ‘The WINGER’ is no fun either so I have decided to just cheat and post lots of pictures…. Actually, I intended to show some images anyway to help give a clearer view of my HOLIDAY ROUNDUP….
Magitov,Pettenella,Amatriain, and myself in ‘’Die Kameliendame.'’ (all Stuttgart Ballet Photos: Ulrich Beuttenmüller) Marcia Haydee and Ivan Liska on the cover of the Video version.
‘’Die Kameliendame'’ or ‘’Lady of the Camellias'’ is something we have been performing alot of recently. We have five complete casts which keeps the ballet-masters extremely busy. ‘Kameliendame’ is one of John Neumeier’s earliest and best-known masterpieces. It is based on the roman by Alexandre Dumas and set to some of Chopin’s best music. Neumeier created this ballet in Stuttgart in 1978 for Marcia Haydee. The arrangement of steps is very complex and the story is absolutely heartbreaking. The way Neumeier develops characters is astonishing in how he brings them to life. I find it pretty rare that a chorographer can can take already amazing characters from a story and make them so movingly three-dimensional. There is a nice synopsis aswell as some important facts on this ballet at The HAMBURG BALLET’s website.
I was lucky to be able to dance the role of ‘Des Griuex’ in the ballet about a month ago…The story of ‘Manon and Des Grieux’ weaves it’s way through the lives of ‘Margeurite and Armand’ in the ballet as the latter pair become increasingly haunted by the parallels that both couples seem to share. I found ‘des Griuex’ amazing to dance because of the layers in his character. The first time Marguerite and Armand see eachother is at a performance of ‘Manon Lescaut’ and so we start off as a performance within a performance. Manon and Des Grieux, therefor, dance everything with extremely exaggerated mime. After that we appear in Marguerite and Armand’s dreams and finally, through two very emotional/technically challenging solos and a beautiful pas de deux, must meet our own tragic fate. Margeurite and Armand start to realize that they must too…
I loved dancing ‘Des Griuex’ with my ‘Manon’, Anna Osadcenko (seen here with me in ‘’The Four Temperaments.'’)
Below is a picture of a spectacular ‘Des Griuex’ from the Hamburg Ballet, Otto Bubenicek, who came to watch the show.
While dancing ‘The Lady of the Camellias’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, I was able to work with Mr. Neumeier and have ever since been incredibly intrigued with his genius. So I went to do a little research when his company came to a beautiful city called Baden-Baden recently. The city of Baden-Baden has a theater season that any theater would envy including a mix of Kirov Ballet, Nacho Duato, NDT, Anna Netrebko, Lang Lang and MUCH more. 
At the ‘Festspielhaus’, I had just enough time to see Neumeier’s ‘’Requiem'’ and a world-premiere of his newest ballet ‘’Parzival…'’ about a young, naive night. This ballet (not unlike ‘’The Green Table'’) is a fitting choice for 2006 as it reflects alot on our society. Parzival must learn that his behavior, action or lack of action, influences the social situation in an essential way.
I was amazed by both of these performances and am sure I could find new nuances watching each of them again, and again–if I had the chance. In both pieces, there was a basic story to follow but also so many details and layers that one can discover, if one chooses to.
I also met up with Holger Badekow at the performances. I am a big fan of Holger who takes stunning photographs and works very closely with the Hamburg Ballet. Here are two images, one of ‘’Requiem'’ and one of ‘’Parzival'’….
Meanwhile, back at work there were two very exciting new pieces being created….
Brilliant italian chorographer, Mauro Bigonzetti ,created a ballet called ‘Kazimir’s Colours'’ for the Stuttgart Ballet 11 years ago and has since become an internationally respected chorographer, taking over ‘’Aterballetto'’ in Italy and making it his own company. We were all excited to learn that he was going to try his hand at creating a full-lenght ballet for us based on the Visconti film ‘’ROCCO E I SUOI Fratelli'’ (Rocco and his brothers…) The story is about a band of brothers and their mother who discover boxing, fame, greed, girls, jeaousy, and ulimate tragedy as they move to the city of Milan. One of the highlights of this project for me, aside from Mauro’s athletic and risk-demanding chorography, was the fact that Marcia Haydee would be joining the cast as ‘Rosaria’ the tormented single mother to Rocco and his four brothers. I had rehearsed with Marcia a bit for her staging of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ before but had never been able to see how she aproaches a role as a dancer. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her, even if she was doing the smallest movement, she was doing it with such focus and intensity that I was entranced! Plus, she is MAJOR idol to all of us at tha Stuttgart Ballet the same way Carla Fracci might be an idol to an italian dancer.
Mauro Bigonzetti in the studio. Katja Wünsche and Jason Reilly in ‘i Fratelli’ Stuttgart Ballet. Marcia Haydee. Visconti’s film ‘Rocco e i suoi Fratelli.’
The other exciting project of the moment is Marco Goecke’s ‘Nussknacker’ (Nutcracker). Unlike most other companies, we do not do Nutcracker in Stuttgart. It isn’t difficult to find a Nutracker to go to if one feels the need to as there are other theaters and touring companies that perform the ballet all over Europe….. HOWEVER, as of the 16th of December we WILL be doing the ‘Nutcracker’ but it will be a VERY different version from what one would traditionally expect. Marco Goecke has been creating an insane amount of ‘buzz’ recently because of his extremely different and fascinating take on the theater-going experience. I, myself, am fascinated when I am given steps/ideas to dance from Marco. Everybody is greatly anticipating Marco’s vision of the classic tale which will take place in the Chamber Theatre.
Marco Goecke receiving the ‘Nijinsky Prize’ from Karl Lagerfeld and Jean-Christoph Maillot in Monaco last week. (photo:Demis Volpi). Me and a thousand balloons in Goecke’s ‘SweetSweetSweet.’
I was surprised to see a good friend of mine, Alejandro Cerrudo, a couple of weeks ago when he came to visit. Alejandro used to dance with us before joining ‘NDT’ and more recently Hubbard Street Dance‘ in Chicago. ‘’Hubbard Street..'’ was on a European tour and I was excited to go see their mixed program in ‘Ludwigshafen’ which is relatively close to Stuttgart. About five years ago, Alejandro started to entertain the idea of chorographing and dancing at the same time. He soon followed his dream to NDT where he got to be a little closer to some of his idols like Kylian, Lightfoot, Leon, Naharin etc… ‘’Hubbard Street..'’ commissioned a new work from Alejandro and the result is ‘’Lickety-Split'’, an absolutely beautiful piece where I could see that things are really coming together for him. It looks like he has taken the best elements from what he learnt from some of the European masters and really created his own vision which was casually fluid while being dynamically charged at the same time. I can’t wait to see what’s next for him. The company looked great aswell, especially in ‘Licket-Split’ and in Duato’s ‘Gnawa’.
Alejandro Cerrudo and dancer’s of ‘Hubbard Street Dance’ in his ‘’Lickety-Split'’.
Back at Staatstheater Stuttgart there have been scattered performances of a mixed program that we do in the ‘Playhouse’ or ‘Schauspielhaus’ which is simply called Goecke-Lee-Spradling. It is a contemporary evening and the Playhouse is a more intimite venue than the Opera House. The british Douglas Lee, is a principal dancer with us (and a great one at that) however he has been experimenting alot lately with his choreographic vision on the company, aswell as in Belgium and Norway. His pieces are usually dark and very elegant in their aesthetic. This particular piece is called ‘Viewing Room’. The other two choreographers on the bill are Marc Spradling , who was a dancer for William Forsythe for many years and Marco Goecke. You all have heard my sentiments about Goecke and how much I enjoy his almost warped perspective(also the case for this piece ‘’ViciousWishes'’) and Mark Spradling who was invited back after success in one of last season’s mixed-bills is back with a fun-to-dance (and watch) piece where each of us take turns dancing a solo or a pas de deux with a man, woman, or both underneath a moving plastic drop the size of the stage that often comes right down on us. There are also marimbas on stage which makes ‘’The Shaking Tent'’ even more action-packed and enjoyable.
Cabrera, Galtier in Douglas Lee’s ‘’Viewing Room'’…Amatriain in Marc Spradling’s ‘’The Shaking Tent'’.
I genuinely consider myself quite lucky to be given so many chances to work on new projects with so many different choreographers. While all the above was being performed and rehearsed, a few of us also started working on another upcoming program with Christian Spuck (love his website created by the minds behind jealouskidin Berlin…). Christian is one of our resident choreographers in Stuttgart. His pieces are very theatrical in his use of the stage and audiences really seem to like coming to see his creations. I have already had so much fun dancing for him in some of his other ballets and now we are in the studio again creating…
Sarah Grether and I ‘walking in air’ as Eric Gauthier looks on in Spuck’s ‘’La Peau Blanche'’
Even though I have been able to sneak away to watch a couple of other companies (mentioned) perform recently, I was sad to have to miss the Royal Ballet’s premiere of Wayne McGregor’s newest work called ‘’Chroma’’. I have worked with Wayne twice and and am a big fan of his both in and out of the studio. Wayne is VERY demanding with dancers and I love it! His pieces are very complex and tremendously organized and there is a style to his work that cannot be found anywhere else. He has his own amazing company based in London called ‘’Random Dance’’ but has now been awarded the coveted title of ‘resident choreographer’ at the Royal Ballet. I don’t know how he is going to find time to put more on his plate (Wayne is one of the busiest people I’ve ever met) but I think it is a cool step that Monica Mason is taking for the company! I also find it ironic that someone who actually has no formal ballet training (Wayne is well-versed in other dance forms from ‘break’ to ‘Cunningham’ but has never actually done a tendu–he’s a complete natural!) is working hand.in-hand with an institution like The Royal Ballet!! = Awesome !
Cabrera,Zaitsev in McGregor’s EDEN EDEN( Stuttgart Ballet). McGregor is rehearsal. Me in my ‘gear’ getting hyped up backstage before the EDEN EDEN premiere.
Finally, I want to give a quick mention to a very fresh and young choreopgrapher who has just finished her dance career and is finally able to focus on ‘creating’ full time. Sabrina Matthews graduated from the National Ballet School just as I was getting my feet wet when I was 10. Now that she is choreographing full-time she decided to make Stuttgart’s Noverre Choreographic Society a first on her list of places to show her work. She ended up creating a beautiful Pas de Deux called ‘’Soles’’ for Alicia Amatriain and myself. The reviews for the piece were wonderful and things have really started to get busier for Sabrina ever since. While in Canada this summer, I saw a powerful new work that she created for The National Ballet of Canada’s choreographic workshop and enjoyed it alot. Alicia and I performed Matthews’s ‘’Soles’’ last Sunday again for a Christmas Gala.
Sabrina Matthews’ ‘’Soles'’.
Well, the roundup didn’t turn out to be as brief as I had expected it to be…..
and yes, I could have been a bit more coherent in my description but nevertheless….
I’ll be back soon with tales of ‘’Taming of the Shrew’’ at the Opera Garnier and a bit of Bournonville…. ☺
Welcome WINGER freshmen and Happy ‘Holidays’ to all at TheWINGER.com!
Recent Posts by Evan McKie
