The World of John Neumeier

Few choreographers like to talk about their work. John Neumeier is the great exception, to the delight of his audience. In his ballet workshop, he offers answers to questions like: “What does ‘choreographic storytelling’ mean?”, “How is an idea transformed into a work?”, and "How important is historical research?" By way of illustration, he invites dancers from the participating companies onto the stage, having them dance and give explanations. But this you probably already know – Neumeier's workshop talks have been a cult event in the Festspielhaus for years.

Chamber music and ballet live on stage: this is the trademark of the Danish company Kammerballetten. And with great success: the young company is participating in the “World of John Neumeier” festival for the second time. John Neumeier is not their only famous fan: Paul Lightfoot, who directed the Nederlands Dans Theater for many years, regularly works with the company. The program will be rounded out by a new choreography by German-Israeli artist Ella Rothschild.

John Neumeier and Vaslav Nijinsky: a kinship between two ballet geniuses from different eras which has long since become historic. The influence of the early-twentieth-century Russian dancer and choreographer has been central to the American artist’s work and aesthetics. John Neumeier houses a private Nijinsky museum in his apartment because for him, his Russian predecessor is "the greatest visionary of the art of ballet – and the most tragic." The ballet Nijinsky is an homage and at the same time an encyclopedia of Neumeier's own style: a masterpiece whose riches can never be exhausted.

With the world premiere of “Epilogue”, John Neumeier bid farewell to his role as artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet after 51 years. “Epilogue” is a poetic ballet inspired by chamber music works in which the piano takes center stage: Franz Schubert's Piano Sonata in B flat major, the Fantasia in F minor and Richard Strauss' “Four Last Songs”, in the version for high voice and piano - music to which John Neumeier has felt an affinity for decades. Neumeier was guided by the emotions that this music triggers in him and created an intimate work characterized by the interplay of dance, music and song. “Epilogue” is a rather abstract ballet that is not based on a retellable plot, and yet it also reveals the choreographer's personal thoughts and feelings. A moving, creative work for the entire ensemble of the Hamburg Ballett.