Hamburg Ballet
| The Hamburg Ballet | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Name | The Hamburg Ballet |
| Local name | Hamburg Ballett |
| Year founded | 1973 |
| Founders | John Neumeier |
| Principal venue | Ballettzentrum Hamburg Caspar-Voght-Straße 54, 20535 Hamburg, Germany |
| Website | www |
| Senior staff | |
| Director | John Neumeier |
| Other | |
| Orchestra | Hamburg State Opera |
| Official school | The School of The Hamburg Ballet |
| Formation |
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The Hamburg Ballet is an internationally acclaimed ballet company based in Hamburg, Germany. Since 1973 it has been directed by the American dancer and choreographer John Neumeier. In addition there is The School of The Hamburg Ballet, established in 1978. The performances of the Hamburg Ballet are usually held at the Hamburg State Opera, while the training and education facility is the "Ballettzentrum Hamburg - John Neumeier". The Hamburg Ballet is well known for guest performances at home and abroad. In the season 2012/13 the company celebrated its 40th anniversary.
On August 16, 1973, John Neumeier took over as ballet Director and Chief Choreographer of the ballet department of the Hamburg State Opera. At that time the dancers worked at the opera the whole time, as the opera house included the stage and the ballet studios.
The first performance of the company under the new leadership was a Ballet Workshop ("Ballett-Werkstatt") titled "Classical Technique in Modern Choreographies" on September 9, 1973. Later the Ballet Workshops developed into a hallmark of The Hamburg Ballet. On September 30, 1973, the dancers presented their first program with "Divertimento No. 15", "Allegro Brillante", "Désir" and "Jeu de cartes“. In January, 1974 The Hamburg Ballet had its first premiere: "Romeo and Juliet" originally choreographed by John Neumeier for the Frankfurt Ballet in 1971. Neumeier danced Romeo, and Marianne Kruuse was Juliet. For the 40th anniversary, this ballet to Sergej Prokofjew’s score was revived on April 11th, 2013. On May 12th, 1974 the first world premiere of a ballet by John Neumeier took place in Hamburg. The ballet "Meyerbeer – Schumann" tells the story of the composers Giacomo Meyerbeer and Robert Schumann. The lead roles were danced by Max Midinet (Meyerbeer) and François Klaus (Schumann).
In 1974 the Hamburg Ballet was invited to perform abroad for the first time. Since then touring is part of every season of the Hamburg Ballet. Over the last 40 years the company has travelled to 29 countries and 4 continents - including France, Russia, China and Brazil. During the 2013/14 season they will perform in Costa Mesa (California) and Vienna (Austria). From June 14–22, 1975 the first Hamburg Ballet Days ("Hamburger Ballett-Tage") took place. Together with the “Nijinsky Gala”, which concludes the Ballet Days, they became a tradition. On January 1, 1978 John Neumeier founded the School of The Hamburg Ballet. Originally, the students trained at the Hamburg State Opera. Later the school moved to the “Bierpalast” and on September 23, 1989 the “Ballettzentrum Hamburg – John Neumeier” opened. The Ballet Center is the home of the company, the school and the National Youth Ballet (“Bundesjugendballett”), which was founded by John Neumeier in 2011.
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