He turned Hamburg into a ballet metropolis. His choreographies are danced by companies all over the world. Even at the age of 85, dance legend John Neumeier doesn’t think about quitting.
The sea rocks up and down. Seven dancers from the Hamburg Ballet with long, cobalt blue skirts slowly move forward. “Bend forward a little further. Yes, that’s it,” says John Neumeier and appears satisfied.
In the next scene, the first soloist Alexandr Trusch in a blue and white striped shirt as Odysseus and the soloist Olivia Betteridge in light jeans as the goddess Calypso dance an intimate pas de deux that touches the heart. She holds him, the hero marked by the Trojan War, and wants to embrace him with her love. At first he is still unsure whether he can allow this. But then both merge into one. “That’s it. Beautiful,” is John Neumeier’s comment.
Revival of his ballet “Odyssey”
Hamburg’s ballet director John Neumeier is also in the hall a few days before his 85th birthday. How could it be otherwise. “I always have to keep moving,” says the man celebrating his birthday, who doesn’t look his age and who wanted a revival of his ballet “Odyssey” based on the epic of the Greek poet Homer for his birthday on February 24th. The work about war, the search for home, being on the move and encountering foreign countries was created in 1995 at the invitation of the Athens Opera and Concert House Megaron.
But it will be Neumeier’s penultimate new production as director of the Hamburg Ballet. On June 30th at the beginning of the 49th Hamburg Ballet Days, Neumeier says goodbye with the premiere of his ballet “Epilogue”.
“At some point you have to let go. I can’t say what feelings I really have at the moment when it’s no longer my company,” says Neumeier in an interview with the German Press Agency. And you can already tell how difficult these words are for him. The Hamburg Ballet without John Neumeier – no one can imagine that.
At 30, he was the youngest ballet director in Germany
The native American has directed the Hamburg Ballet since 1973 and brought it to world fame with his unique signature between visionary dance and classical ballet tradition. At just 30 years old, he was already the youngest ballet director in Germany, at that time still in Frankfurt am Main. Today he is the longest-serving ballet director in the world.
But in the summer it’s actually over – at least as an artistic director. Then the 38-year-old German-Argentinian Demis Volpi takes over the management of the Hamburg Ballet. However, John Neumeier’s repertoire will continue to be seen – rehearsed by the numerous ballet masters, especially Neumeier’s deputy Lloyd Riggins.
Of course, John Neumeier doesn’t stop choreographing. That would be hard to imagine, because dance is his life. “The calendar is full until 2027,” he says with a smile on his face. As he did as director of the Hamburg Ballet, he will work with other companies – including those from Houston (USA), Melbourne (Australia), Prague (Czech Republic) and Dresden, Stuttgart and Munich. “But this time I no longer have to feel guilty about my own company,” says the choreographer.
He will also remain connected to the Hamburg Ballet, for example at the “The World of John Neumeier” festival on September 26th. until 13.10. in Baden-Baden. And who knows, maybe there will also be a new factory in Hamburg. “If I’m invited? I’ll think about it,” says John Neumeier mysteriously.
Neumeier is also an honorary citizen of Hamburg
After 51 years, it’s hard to imagine Hamburg’s cultural scene without John Neumeier. “He managed to get the still reserved people of Hamburg excited about dance, lead his company to worldwide success and make the Hamburg Ballet internationally known,” said Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) at the 50th anniversary reception in the ballroom of the town hall.
In addition to numerous international awards, Neumeier has also been an honorary citizen of Hamburg since 2007, an extremely rare recognition. Neumeier himself says that he always stayed in Hamburg – “because things kept going.” The Hamburg Ballet School was opened in 1978, the ballet center with an attached boarding school was founded in 1989 and the Federal Youth Ballet was founded in 2011, of which he will remain director.
The son of a captain and a Polish mother, who was born on February 24, 1939 in Milwaukee, did not initially have an easy time in Hamburg after working in New York, London, Stuttgart and Frankfurt. Only slowly did he conquer the hearts of the Hanseatic people.
The first ballet workshop, a kind of public training, broke the ice: “I suddenly forgot my lines, apologized, and while I was looking for my notes, I was surprised by the audience’s warm applause,” remembers Neumeier.
When he first addressed his company, he said: “I want a company with an unmistakable face.” He definitely succeeded. It will be interesting to see what happens next. John Neumeier now definitely feels like he’s from Hamburg: “Hamburg is already my home.”