Cualquier actuation del Hamburg Ballet we remember the founder, the choreographer John Neumeier (Milwaukee, 1939), continues to be one of the most recognized names in real dance. During sus more than five years at the head of the companyhas created a group that follows the lead with a solid repertoire that it maintains with pride and determination. Times change, choreographic currents evolve… but their ballets remain – at least for now – steadfast.
Nijinsky (2000), la pieza que Go to high school for the first timerestore all the creative wisdom, work and taste for detail that characterizes its author. Being able to enjoy one of their best works interpreted by the company it was created for adds value to these representations.
The North American, who joined the Hamburg Ballet just two years ago, supports the foundation that bears his name, directs the Bundesjugendballett, which he created in 2011, and his works form part of the repertoire of the most prestigious companies.
For the expansion of his work, Neumeier received, among other awards, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the title of Knight of the Legion of Honor of France, and the Kyoto Award from the Japanese Inamori Foundation.
The dance was based on an academic tradition that incorporated 20th-century aesthetic elements, thus developing its own language; Nijinsky not only contains some of his most beautiful aloneto solvent, sophisticated and very expressive stage direction.
Moment from ‘Nijinsky’, choreography signed by John Neumeier and performed by Hamburg Ballet. Photo: Kiran West
What was published in 1979 as an abstract work (Wenceslaus) inspired by the fact that one of the most famous artists of the past era – Václav Nijinsky (1889-1950) – later turned into a ballet one night. By the way, John Neumeier was intrigued by the dramatic story of the Ukrainian bailiff encumbrado by the impresario Sergué Diaguilev in his Ballets Russes which carrera was shortened to only ten years in the script due to his mental imbalance; Today, Neumeier is one of the world’s leading collectors of Nijinsky memorabilia.
“There is nothing more difficult than creating a ballet for a specific person,” he explains. “True understanding can only arise from intimate knowledge and yet at the moment of creation you must lose sight of this knowledge, forget everything you read, hear or think. As you know, the connection is deeper and more difficult if it is vuelve el proceso,” added el choreógrafo.
En Nijinsky, elementos reales e imaginarios se mezclan con la naturalidad de una mente endiablada en la que todo parece tener cabida: el omnipresente y controvertido Diáguilev; su esposa Romola, con quien Nijinsky se casó de forma abrupta durante una gira de la compañía por Sudamérica a la que no asistió el empresario; su hermana, la también coreógrafa Bronislava Nijinska; o sus compañeros en los Ballets Russes alternan con los principales personajes de los ballets que lo hicieran famoso.
Reconoceremos al Arlequín que interpretó en Le Carnaval, al esclavo de Shéhérazade, escenas emblemáticas de Les Sylphides o Le spectre de la rose… junto con sus propias coreografías: L’Après-midi d’un faune, Le Sacre du printemps o Jeux.
This beautiful mosaic, which Neumeier reveals the artist’s complete existence, trudges with what remains to the latest implementationcelebrated in the ballroom of the Suvretta House hotel in St. Moritz (Suiza). Here is a replay of that late black 1919 –who later described his Nijinsky as “chatting with God”–, floated through the imaginary thoughts of the dancer during his dance.
Between two moving acts, Neumeier follows the show with a flashback to the brutality of the First World War – in which the protagonist’s human mayor fails – and leaves the viewer wondering if the story really took place in the world outside that went to Nijinsky.
The choreographer also signs the sets and clothescreated from original works by Léon Bakst and Alexandre Benoise – two of the great artists who collaborated with Diaguilev – and if you find yourself in the music of Frederic Chopin, Robert Schumann, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov or Dmitri Shostakovich which will be performed by the Orquesta Sinfónica del Gran Teatre del Liceu under the direction of Jonathan Notto.
The Hamburg Ballet, now under the direction of the American Lloyd Riggins – former company premier and partner of Neumeier – has also been touring for years with its regular artistic team, accompanied by a number of students and students from the company school (founded by Neumeier himself in 1978) complete the list of this great production.
The choreographer says it’s not an epic ballet; including that it must not be a ballet, up to two. “A choreographic survey cannot be a document: it is a biography of the soul, a biography of the feelings and states of the human condition”concludes.
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