The 49th Hamburg Ballet Days as an exclamation mark for John Neumeier's career
Hamburg, 25 June 2024 - The highlight of the 51st anniversary season of the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier will be the Hamburg Ballet Days, the 49th edition of which will take place from 30 June to 14 July 2024. John Neumeier will present a final curated combination of important key works from his era. These include ‘Endstation Sehnsucht’ and ‘The Glass Menagerie’, both inspired by Tennessee Williams, as well as ‘The Odyssey’ based on Homer. This year's highlight will be the world premiere of ‘Epilogue’, John Neumeier's last and self-choreographed premiere.
John Neumeier has no intention of going quietly. Quite the opposite. On 30 June 2024, his creative period will come to an end with his last and self-choreographed premiere ‘Epilogue’ (30 June; 2 July; 4 July). Neumeier will create an intimate, chamber music-like work for the ensemble that he has shaped for decades and led to world fame. ‘Epilogue’ is an interplay of dance, music and song. The music of Franz Schubert, Richard Strauss and Simon & Garfunkel inspired the choreographer. It is the 173rd work by the longest-serving ballet director in the world and it also opens the 49th Hamburg Ballet Days, during which the audience can once again enjoy the most important works of the season and which are always both the highlight and conclusion of the current ballet season.
During the two weeks of the Ballet Days, John Neumeier will also present a carefully compiled selection of his most important works. These include ‘Endstation Sehnsucht’ (11 July) and ‘Die Glasmenagerie’ (12 July), both inspired by Tennessee Williams, as well as ‘Die Odyssee’ (5 July) based on Homer. His popular classics ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (3 July) and ‘The Lady of the Camellias’ (7 July) can also be seen. The ballet Jan Eyre (6 July) by Cathy Marston will be danced as a guest performance, which will be performed in Germany for the first time.
At the end of the 2023/24 season, John Neumeier will bid farewell to his role as artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet after 51 years with the glamorous ‘Nijinsky Gala XLIX’ (14 July). The Nijinsky Gala is named after Vaslav Nijinsky, the brilliant ballet dancer and choreographer whose leaping technique was considered perfect. The equally brilliant ballet director Neumeier not only dedicated the gala to Nijinsky, but also a ballet that celebrated its world premiere in Hamburg in 2020.
The detailed programme of the 49th Hamburg Ballet Days is published at www.hamburgballett.de
To mark the glittering conclusion of John Neumeier's era in Hamburg, the Hamburg Ballet will make a guest appearance at the international Nervi Music Ballet Festival 2024 on 19 and 20 July. On the initiative of Genoese First Soloist Jacopo Bellussi, designated Artistic Director of the Nervi Ballet Festival from 2025, the company will present John Neumeier's adaptation of William Shakespeare's ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ in the open-air theatre in the enchanting setting of Nervi Park.