John Neumeier (born February 24, 1939) is an American ballet dancer,choreographer, and director. He was the director and principal choreographer ofHamburg Ballet from 1973 to 2024[1] and the artistic director of the ballet at theHamburg State Opera from 1996-2024.[2]
In 1978 he founded The School of the Hamburg Ballet,[3] which includes a boarding school for 34 students.[4] He has been the general director and artistic supervisor of the German National Youth Ballet since it was founded in 2011.[5][6]
Neumeier was born inMilwaukee, Wisconsin, where he received his first ballet training. He continued his dance training in Chicago at the Stone-Camyrn School of Ballet and performed withSybil Shearer andRuth Page.[7] After completing aBA in English Literature and Theater Studies atMarquette University in 1961, he continued his training in Copenhagen withVera Volkova and at theRoyal Ballet School in London. In 1963 he joined theStuttgart Ballet underJohn Cranko, rising to the rank of soloist.[8] In 1969 Neumeier became director of the Frankfurt Ballet, before becoming director and principal choreographer at the Hamburg Ballet in 1973.[9] From 1971-1974 Neumeier was also guest choreographer for theRoyal Winnipeg Ballet, where he provided repertoire and staged his version ofThe Nutcracker.
In 2001 and 2008 he served as a president of the jury at thePrix de Lausanne ballet competition.
Neumeier and his partner, German cardiovascular surgeon Hermann Reichenspurner, got married in 2018 after 14 years together.[10] They live in Hamburg.[11]
His adaptations of plays byWilliam Shakespeare are of particular importance. They includeRomeo and Juliet (Frankfurt Ballet, 1974),A Midsummer Night's Dream (1977),[12]Othello (1985),[23]As You Like It (1985),Hamlet (Royal Danish Ballet, 1985) andVIVALDI, or What You Will (1996).[12] Neumeier has reinterpreted and rechoreographed the seminal classics of the 19th century:The Nutcracker (Frankfurt Ballet, 1971), set in the world of 19th-century ballet,Illusions, like Swan Lake (1976), based loosely on the life ofLudwig II of Bavaria,The Sleeping Beauty (1978) andGiselle (2000).
He has choreographed works on biblical subjects, includingThe Legend of Joseph (Vienna State Ballet, 1977),St Matthew Passion (1981),[12]Magnificat (Paris Opera Ballet, 1987),[24]Requiem (1991),Messiah (1999) andChristmas Oratorio (2007, 2013), as well as ballets inspired by mythological subjects:Daphnis et Chloe (Frankfurt Ballet, 1972),[25]Sylvia (Paris Opera Ballet, 1997),Orpheus (2009),Tristan (1982),[26]The Legend of King Arthur (1982) andPercival – Episodes and Echo (2006). Neumeier's work is particularly inspired by the life and work ofVaslav Nijinsky[27] and he has produced several ballets about him:Vaslav (1979),[12] the full-lengthNijinsky (2000)[20] andLe Pavillon d'Armide (2009).[12] Neumeier has also choreographed a number of ballets to the music ofGustav Mahler, including the biographicalPurgatorio (2011), set toDeryck Cooke's reconstruction ofMahler's Tenth Symphony. In addition, Neumeier has choreographed Mahler's First (Lieb' und Leid und Welt und Traum,Ballet of the 20th Century, 1980), Third (1975), Fourth (Royal Ballet, 1977), Fifth (1989), Sixth (1984) and Ninth (In the Between, 1994) symphonies, as well as theRückert-Lieder (1976),Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Soldier Songs, 1989) andSong of the Earth (Paris Opera Ballet, 2015).
John Neumeier.Trente ans de ballets à l'Opéra de Paris. Edited by Jacqueline Thuilleux (French), Editions Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2010.ISBN978-2-35340-089-8
Наталия Зозулина.Джон Ноймайер в Петербурге. Научный редактор В.В.Чистякова. Санкт-Петербург, "Алаборг", 2012.ISBN978-5-85902-145-1
Наталия Зозулина.Джон Ноймайер и его балеты. Вечное движение. Санкт-Петербург, Академия Русского балета им. А.Я.Вагановой, 2019.ISBN978-5-93010-143-0
Nijinsky. Ballett von John Neumeier. By Natalia Zozulina (German, ubersetzt aus dem Russischen von Natalia Freudenberg). St.Petersburg, 2020.
Наталия Зозулина.Джон Ноймайер. Рождение хореографа. Санкт-Петербург, Академия Русского балета им. А.Я.Вагановой, 2021.ISBN978-5-93010-182-9
^Emily Alane Erken (Fall 2012). "Narrative Ballet as Multimedial Art: John Neumeier's The Seagull".19th-Century Music.36 (2):159–171.doi:10.1525/ncm.2012.36.2.159.
^abcVeltman, Chloe (March 19, 2010). "Taking a Children's Tale to Dark New Depths".The New York Times. p. A25B.
^Magnificat, ballet de John Neumeier, par le Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris, création mondiale, Festival d'Avignon, cour d'honneur du Palais des papes, 27–31 juillet 1987, [programme] (in French).Festival d'Avignon. 1987.
Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd Class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon[39]