© Silvano Ballone
Founded at the initiative of Prof. John Neumeier, the National Youth Ballet is unique throughout Germany. Eight young professional dancers aged 18 to 23 spend up to two years with the young company, which is supported by federal funds and wishes to bring ballet closer to people’s daily lives again. Therefore, the ensemble appears not only at opera houses, concert halls and theatres, but also in schools, senior citizens’ homes, clubs and even prisons. Dance, music and song are of equal importance in the young company’s performances with its partners. The National Youth Ballet honours the past by studying works from the history of ballet, experiences the present by working with contemporary choreographers of different ages and styles, and invests in the future of dance by commissioning its own works and supporting talented young choreographers. The dancers come from all over the world. Their home is the Hamburg Ballet Centre – John Neumeier; their language is dance. Since its Young Euro Classic debut in 2012, the dancers perform together with young musicians for the eighth time at Young Euro Classic in 2019.
Dancers of the National Youth Ballet:
Natsuka Abe | Rebecca Gollwitzer | Madeleine Skippen | Ida-Sofia Stempelmann
Gabriel Brito | Marcelo Ferreira | Artem Prokopchuk | Emiliano Torres
Konzerthaus, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Dorgerloh is an art historian by training as well as a monument conservator and culture manager. Having held leading positions at the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg and as the founding director of the House of the History of Brandenburg and Prussia in Potsdam, he was appointed director general of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg in 2002, a position he held until 2018. Since 2004 he has been teaching as an honorary professor at the Humboldt University in Berlin, has taught regularly at the University of Berne, Switzerland, and was a scholar at the Getty Research Institute in the USA. Internationally, he has served as a board member of ICOM-DemHist and the Association des Résidences Royales Européennes (ARRE). He was also chairman of the board of “Schlösser und Gärten in Deutschland e.V.” (2012-2018) and spokesman of the Conference of National Cultural Institutions in Germany (2005-2010).
© Kiran West
The US-American John Neumeier is among the most important choreographers of our times. As Ballet Director and Artistic Director of the Hamburg Ballet, he turned this company into one of Germany’s leading ones. John Neumeier won international acclaim for his combination of traditional ballet with new, contemporary forms. One of John Neumeier’s passions is the support and education of young talent. In 1978, he founded the Ballet School of the Hamburg Ballet. In 2011, John Neumeier founded the National Youth Ballet, whose artistic director he has been ever since. John Neumeier has been awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit twice and was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 2003. He already choreographed a ballet for Young Euro Classic in 2012, and in 2013 and 2014 the National Youth Ballet appeared at the Konzerthaus in two of his choreographies as well.
© Silvano Ballone
Born in Miami, Kevin Haigen has worked as a dancer, choreographer, ballet teacher and ballet master. He trained at the School of American Ballet under George Balanchine, where he created his first choreographies. In 1976 Kevin Haigen joined the Hamburg Ballet, where he returned in 1991, after several international engagements, as company ballet master and ballet teacher. Ever since, he has assisted John Neumeier in the production of numerous ballets worldwide. Since the founding of the National Youth Ballet, Kevin Haigen has been its Artistic and Pedagogical Director.
PROGRAMME
For the eighth time, the National Youth Ballet, founded by John Neumeier and directed by Kevin Haigen, presents an extraordinary evening at Young Euro Classic. This year the young artists present choreographies from their repertoire and new creations to chamber music from various epochs. The eight international dancers and the ensemble of musicians invite you to a magical world full of wonderful images and sounds.
