Atelier 2
Biennale meets BJB
As a young company, the German National Youth Ballet not only dances John Neumeier’s repertoire, they also develop their own contemporary works. In this atelier, the participants learn and rehearse repertoire of the German National Youth Ballet. Germany’s first ever National Youth Ballet was founded at the beginning of the 2011/2012 theatre season.
The company consists of eight professional dancers between the ages of 18 to 23 and also works in the Ballettzentrum Hamburg John Neumeier. With its own repertoire, comprising mainly of works by young choreographers, the group predominantly dances in new spaces –not only theatres, but schools, museums, nursing homes and even prisons; spaces in which dance does not usually attract much interest. The National Youth Ballet aims to demonstrate that dance has a social relevance creating a spirit of community and a sense of unity, focusing especially on a young audience. The company has both national and international tours scheduled, hoping to bring people of different backgrounds and characters together through movement and creativity.
Teacher: Raymond Hilbert
Feb 21 + 22, 11-12 am, room Petipa
Ballettzentrum Hamburg John Neumeier, Caspar-Voght-Straße 54, 20535 Hamburg
Atelier 4
Beethoven Dances
Participants work on an excerpt from John Neumeier’s ballet: Beethoven Dances.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the School of the Hamburg Ballet in the year 2018, John Neumeier choreographed 40 dances under the title Beethoven Dances to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven. The choice of the music shows the musical diversity at the turn of the 19th century and that music and dance belonged to the essence of everyday life at that time.
Each level of the school was given the possibility to present their technical and artistic abilities. The focus of the dances is on the individual gifts of the students as well as on the technical level of the class. John Neumeier captures the atmosphere of the music with the individual dancers.
Beethoven Dances is a very special ballet for the students because John Neumeier choreographed the dances specifically for them. In these 40 dances, the students can express their joy and passion by moving to music. The intuitive students’ movements link the music and the dance as at the time of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Teacher: Gigi Hyatt
Feb 21 + 22, 11-12 am, room Fokine
Ballettzentrum Hamburg John Neumeier, Caspar-Voght-Straße 54, 20535 Hamburg
Atelier 1
Dancing with a company
Participants work on an excerpt from John Neumeier’s repertoire: Orphée et Eurydice.
John Neumeier has always exceeded common expectations by not letting himself be defined solely as an artist in the role of a choreographer. With the premiere of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice at the Lyric Opera Chicago in 2017, he directed the opera as well as taking the responsibility of the choreography, the stage design, costume and lighting design – thus enabling an unexpected fusion of ballet and opera. The inspiration for this innovative production was the Parisian version of 1774, for which the composer provided extensive dance performances.
For John Neumeier, however, the dynamic coupling of music and dance is not an end in itself. His modern adaptation of the plot framework is inspired by Gluck’s idea of making human emotions intuitively tangible: “We have all had experiences of loss –even if they do not reach the dimensions of madness that I think can be shown in ‘Orphée’.”
Teacher: Janusz Mazoń
Feb 18 + 19, 11-12 am, room Fokine
Ballettzentrum Hamburg John Neumeier, Caspar-Voght-Straße 54, 20535 Hamburg
Atelier 3
Yondering
Participants work on an excerpt from John Neumeier’s ballet: Yondering.
In 1996, John Neumeier choreographed the Ballet Yondering for Canada’s National Ballet School to the music of Stephen Foster. The title was chosen from pioneering days in America, when the first settlers made their way in the unknown west und discovered a new country. They left their familiar surroundings and everything they knew behind, looked “over yonder” and went beyond this frontier although nobody knew what to expect. This journey and the courage going beyond this frontier was known as “Yondering”. The link between the word and the ballet Yondering manifests itself in the fact that John Neumeier choreographed this ballet only for students to perform and not for professional dancers.
Most of the students who dance Yondering are facing their own frontier. They have almost completed their training and are about to begin their first engagement in a professional company. These students are also looking “over yonder”, looking towards their new world as professional dancers. Only these students at this time in their lives have the ability to express the feelings of this ballet. The lyrics and Thomas Hampson’s interpretation accentuate the deep emotion and the innocence of youth.
Teacher: Kevin Haigen
Feb 18 + 19, 11-12 am, rooms Petipa, Nijinsky
Ballettzentrum Hamburg John Neumeier, Caspar-Voght-Straße 54, 20535 Hamburg
Behörde KuMe
