John Neumeier's world -- dance is my world
from as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to dance,-even before I knew what it was. from child, my living room could become a big stage by turning on the record player and listening to Leonard Bernstein´s "Candide Overture" record- ... My first impressions of dance came from the Technicolor films of American Musicals, which my mother used to take me to to see. The innocent joy of this music, the energy and thrill that Gene Kelly´s dancing gave me is still a part of me.
At first, my parents sent me to tap class - later also acrobatic dance - but then, standing at the barre in my first ballet class, discovering those first ballet positions and performing my first ballet exercises - I smiled - feeling that somehow I had arrived to home...
Creation is the most exciting aspect of dance. It is almost from immediately I felt that I wanted not only to dance, but to create dances - to tell beautiful stories in movement, without words.
Dance can bring myths to life - like that of Orpheus, who out of his love for Eurydice attempts the impossible - to save his beloved from the Underworld, that is, to cheat death itself. The only condition of the gods is that they never turn back to look at her before the end of her journey... As Orpheus brings Eurydice out of the Underworld with a pas de deux, a Myth of Antiquity moves into the present...
I have created many myths - for dance. For example Sylvia. The story of Diana's favorite nymph, the Goddess of the Hunt. She was the most experienced hunter - But too proud or perhaps too shy for the love of the sweet shepherd Aminta.
I believe that dance is art - art that reflects the human being in all its aspects. For me, it is not just a spectacle, a sport, or simply a mere display of physical strength or virtuosity - but dance can reflect the soul of man, his spiritual dimension and aspirations, his relationship with God - His doubts and insecurity, but also the joy and ecstasy of his Faith.
For me, to talk about the history of dance is to talk about a living thing - I have always been curious about who shaped the world of dance before me. The legendary steps of the great dancers and choreographers have brought me to where I am today. Of all the fascinating, courageous and unique personalities in the history of dance one is particularly to close to my heart - Vaslav Nijinsky.
from always, the dancer, choreographer and personality of Nijinsky is the cue for my imagination, moved and inspired me. My Nijinsky ballet begins with his last performance at the Suvretta House Hotel in St. Moritz on January 19, 1919. During this last dance, Nijinsky sees images from his life, which was turbulent and tragic at the same time surrounded by the horrors of World War I, the mental illness of his brother Stanislav and his revolutionary choreography.
For me, dance has always been the ideal medium to express the endless variations of the theme of love - Like that of Armando and Marguerite - the "Lady of the Camellias."
Throughout my career in my dance world, I have met and worked with so many wonderful people, with numerous great artists. Some became very close and important friends, others I lost along the way. But their memory and inspiration remain a part of my work. My affection for the great choreographer and friend Maurice Béjart will always live on in the ballet I created for his 70th birthday Opus 100 - for Maurice.
Dance is my world - and I have always felt privileged to be able to be a part of it - this world of hard work, but also of struggles and disappointments - a fascinating world full of dedication and unconditional commitment - Serving dance is truly a commitment of love. And every day, I am reminded of the title Gustav Mahler gave to the last movement of his Third Symphony: What Love Tells Me.
John Neumeier

The Hamburg Ballet - John Neumeier
John Neumeier has been Director and Principal Choreographer of the Hamburg Ballett since 1973. Receiving his early training in dance to Milwaukee in Wisconsin, his hometown, where his first works as a choreographer were also born, Neumeier continued his studies both to Copenhagen and at the Royal Ballet School in London. In 1963 he joined the Stuttgart Ballet, establishing himself as a solo dancer. Before coming to direct Hamburg, he was already director of the Frankfurt Ballet since 1969. Under Neumeier's leadership the Hamburg Ballett became one of the leading ballet companies on the German dance scene and soon received recognition to internationally. As a choreographer John Neumeier has always focused his attention on preserving the ballet tradition, while managing to to give his works a modern dramaturgical twist. His most recent creations, Le Pavillon d'Armide and Orpheus, were first performed with the Hamburg Ballett in 2009. Neumeier has
worked as a guest choreographer for the Royal Ballet in London, theOpera State Ballet in Vienna, Munich, and Dresden, as well as the Paris Opera and the Tokyo Ballet. He has received numerous awards, including most recently the "Herbert von Karajan Musikpreis" in 2007 and the "Deutscher Jubiläums Tanzpreis" in

2008. The city of Hamburg awarded him honorary citizenship in 2007.

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