Ballet by John Neumeier | The Nutcracker
Marie
Olivia Betteridge
Soloist
BORN
21.12.99 in Westmead, Australia. Australian
EDUCATION
Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Gigi Hyatt, Janusz Mazon, Anna Urban, Leslie Hughes, Lucinda Dunn, Paul Boyd, Wim Broeckx
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2017, Soloist in 2023
REPERTORY
Marie in "The Nutcracker”
Olympia in "Lady of the Camellias"
Princess Claire and The Butterfly in "Illusions – like Swan Lake"
Rosalinde in "Romeo and Juliet"
Evening Star in "A Sleeping Beauty" (Neufassung 2021)
Calipso in "Odyssey"
La Barbarina in "Death in Venice"
Diana Rivers in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Broadway's Pavlova
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Epilogue
Liebeslieder Walzer (George Balanchine)
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
Shakespeare Sonnets (Marc Jubete, Aleix Martínez and Edvin Revazov)
Adagio (Pina Bausch)
Blake Works V – The Barre Project (William Forsythe)
Drosselmeier
Daniele Bonelli
Soloist
BORN
29.8.2001 in Pietrasanta, Italy. Italian
EDUCATION
Scuola di Ballo dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala
MAIN TEACHERS
Leonid Nikonov, Loreta Alexandrescu
ENGAGEMENTS
Ballett am Rhein 2020-2024
Hamburg Ballet since 2024
CREATIONS IN DUSSELDORF
Albrecht in "Giselle"
and solo in
A kiss to the world (Dominique Dumais)
CREATION IN HAMBURG
Empathie in "Slow Burn" (Aszure Barton)
REPERTORY IN DUSSELDORF
The Judge in "Geschlossene Spiele" (Demis Volpi)
The Uncle and an Escort of the Snow Queen in "The Nutcracker" (Demis Volpi)
Tonda in "Krabat" (Demis Volpi)
The Toreador in "Carmen (Roland Petit)
The Teacher in "The Lesson" (Flemming Flindt)
Ekart in "Baal" (Aszure Barton)
and solos in
La Cantatrice chauve (Andrey Kaydanovskiy)
Le Sacre du printemps (Marcos Morau)
Salt womb (Sharon Eyal)
Sanguinic: con brio (Demis Volpi)
Come In (Aszure Barton)
Polyphonia (Christopher Wheeldon)
One and others (Demis Volpi)
Eine kleine Frau (Neshama Nashman)
Artifact II (William Forsythe)
Dancing with Piano (Hans van Manen)
The Four Temperaments (George Balanchine)
Enemy in the Figure (William Forsythe)
Rubies (George Balanchine)
Solo (Hans van Manen)
REPERTORY IN HAMBURG
Drosselmeier in "The Nutcracker"
Aschenbach's Concepts in "Death in Venice"
Mr. Brocklehurst in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Adagio (Pina Bausch)
Blake Works V – The Barre Project (William Forsythe)
Louise
Futaba Ishizaki
Soloist
BORN
28.9.1993 in Tokyo. Japanese
EDUCATION
Yamaji Rumiko Ballet School (Tokio)
Ballettschule des Hamburg Ballett
MAIN TEACHERS
Rumiko Yamaji, Akiko Sano, Carolina Borrajo, Marianne Kruuse, Kevin Haigen
ENGAGEMENTS
Hamburg Ballet 2011-2017
Houston Ballet 2016/2017
Hungarian National Ballet 2017-2020
Ballett am Rhein 2020-2024
Hamburg Ballet since 2024
CREATIONS IN HAMBURG
A figure from the romantic novels Tatiana loves to read in "Tatiana" (John Neumeier)
IN DUSSELDORF
Giselle in "Giselle" (Demis Volpi)
A women in "From time to time" (John Neumeier)
Emilie in "Baal" (Aszure Barton)
Coppélia in "CoppéliaX Machina" (Hélène Blackburn)
and solos in
Herzog Blaubarts Burg (Demis Volpi)
The thing with feathers (Demis Volpi)
A kiss to the world (Dominique Dumias)
REPERTORY IN BUDAPEST
Tamara in "Chroma" (Wayne McGregor)
Magda in "Merry Widow" (Ronald Hynd)
and solos in
Falling Angels (Jiří Kylián)
Bedroom Folk(Sharon Eyal)
Theme and Variations (George Balanchine)
Etudes (Harald Lander)
5 Tangos (Hans Van Mannen)
Episode 31 (Alexander Ekman)
Troy Game (Robert North)
The Nutcracker (Wayne Eagling)
REPERTORY IN DUSSELDORF
Carmen in "Carmen" (Roland Petit)
The Novice in "The Cage" (Jerome Robbins)
The Pupil in "The Lesson" (Flemming Flindt)
The Kantorka in "Krabat" (Demis Volpi)
Gina in "Geschlossene Spiele" (Demis Volpi)
The Maid in "The Nutcracker" (Demis Volpi)
and solos in
Allure (Demis Volpi)
Winter (Demis Volpi)
Aus ihrer Zeit (Demis Volpi)
Little Monsters (Demis Volpi)
Elegie (Demis Volpi)
Ebony Concerto (Demis Volpi)
A simple piece (Demis Volpi)
One and others (Demis Volpi)
Polyphonia (Christopher Wheeldon)
The Four Temperaments (George Balanchine)
Rubies (George Balanchine)
Artifact II (William Forsythe)
Enemy in the Figure (William Forsythe)
REPERTORY IN HAMBURG
Quadrille in "Illusions – like Swan Lake"
Helena in "Romeo and Juliet"
Zulma in "Giselle"
The foreign Princess in "A Cinderella Story"
Louise, Pas de huit and The Beautiful Girl from Granada in "The Nutcracker"
Aschenbach's Concepts in "Death in Venice"
Pas de six in "Napoli" (Auguste Bournonville / Lloyd Riggins)
Blanche Ingram in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Préludes CV
Petruschka Variations
La Vivandière (Pierre Lacotte after Arthur Saint-Léon)
The Times Are Racing (Justin Peck)
Variations for Two Couples (Hans van Manen)
Blake Works V – The Barre Project (William Forsythe)
GUESTING
Nijinsky Gala XLVII (Hamburg 2022)
Internationale Ballett-TanzGala (Augusburg 2024)
AWARDS
Prix de Lausanne 2009
The International Competition for the Erik Bruhn Prize 2015
Günter
Christopher Evans
Principal
BORN
2.11.94 in Loveland, CO. American
EDUCATION
BalletMet Dance Academy
Canada's National Ballet School
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Susan Dromisky, Alexander Gorbatsevich, Kevin Haigen
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2012, Soloist 2015, Principal since 2018
CREATIONS
Jim O'Connor in "The Glass Menagerie"
A Mystic in "Dona Nobis Pacem"
and solos in
Turangalîla
Beethoven Project I
Ghost Light
Beethoven Project II
Epilogue
Aether (Luca Andrea Tessarini)
Metamorphosis (Marc Jubete)
Beautiful Soul (Marcelino Libao)
REPERTORY
The King, Count Alexander and Quadrille in "Illusions - like Swan Lake"
Benvolio and Antonio in "Romeo and Juliet"
Fabian in "VIVALDI or What you will"
Albrecht in "Giselle"
Günther in "The Nutcracker"
Vladimir Lensky in "Tatjana"
The Prince and A Bird in "A Cinderella Story"
Theseus/Oberon and Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Arlequin in ‘Carnaval' and The Spirit of the rose in 'Le Spectre de la rose' in "Nijinsky"
Konstantin (Kostya) Gavrilovich Triplev in "The Seagull"
Armand Duval and Des Grieux in "Lady of the Camellias"
Man I in "Bernstein Dances"
Gustav von Aeschenbach in "Death in Venice"
Koll/Fortinbras in "Hamlet 21"
Love/Thyrsis/Orion in "Sylvia"
Catalabutte in "The Sleeping Beauty" (Neufassung 2021)
Harold Mitchell (Mitch) in "Endstation Sehnsucht"
Odysseus in *Odyssey"
Alexei Karenin and Levin in "Anna Karenina"
Mann in Green in "Dances at a Gathering" (Jerome Robbins)
Basil in "Don Quixote" (Rudolf Nurejev after Marius Petipa)
Prince Florizel in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
St John Rivers in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Préludes CV
Petrushka-Variations
Christmas Oratorio I-VI
The Song of the Earth
Soldier Songs (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
The Fifth Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Nocturnes
At Midnight
Saint Matthew Passion
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
The Times Are Racing (Justin Peck)
Blake Works V – The Barre Project (William Forsythe)
HE CHOREOGRAPHED
"Soul Sketch"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2016
"A Cosmic Second"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2017
AWARDS
Prix de Lausanne 2010
Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer-Prize 2015
Fritz
João Santana
Corps de Ballet
BORN
17.06.02 in Barra Bonita (São Paulo), Brazil. Brazilian
EDUCATION
Academia Roda Viva
MAIN TEACHERS
Daniela Dias, Jair Moraes, Erinaldo Conrado, Simone Malta, Ana Maria Campos, Olga Dolganova, Gisele Bellot
ENGAGEMENTS
Junior Company of Centro de Educação em Artes Basileu França in 2018
National Youth Ballet in 2020
Hamburg Ballet since 2023
REPERTORY
A Thorn Creature in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Telemachos in "Odyssey"
Fritz in "The Nutcracker"
and solo in
Blake Works V – The Barre Project (William Forsythe)
Photo © Silvano Ballone
Conductor
David Briskin
Conductor
Music Director and Principal Conductor of The National Ballet of Canada since 2006, David Briskin is widely recognized as one of contemporary ballet’s most accomplished conductors.
Mr. Briskin lived and worked for 23 years as a conductor in New York City, working in opera, ballet and in concert. He conducted for seven years with American Ballet Theatre and was a seasonal conductor for New York City Ballet. He has also conducted for nearly all the major North American ballet companies as well as for The Juilliard School’s Dance Division for 12 years. Internationally, Mr. Briskin has appeared with The Royal Ballet, The Royal Swedish Ballet and The Royal Danish Ballet, where in 2021/22 he conducted productions of John Neumeier’s "Romeo and Juliet "and "La Sylphide" in Copenhagen and on tour throughout Denmark. He conducted the world premiere of "The Winter’s Tale" at Covent Garden in 2014 as well as productions in Toronto, New York and Washington DC. He is currently serving as Music Director for the Nureyev Legend and Legacy Gala Programme featuring dancers from the Royal Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, English National Ballet and other international guests at the Drury Lane Theatre in London in September 2022. He will make his first appearance with Dutch National Ballet in 2023. Mr. Briskin has appeared with orchestras and opera companies in North America and abroad including the Pittsburgh, Detroit, Baltimore, Cincinnati Pops, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Windsor and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras, as well as Calgary, Manitoba, Sarasota, Lake George Opera and Opera Carolina, among others.
photo: Karolina Kuras
Orchestra
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
Orchestra
The Philharmonic State Orchestra is Hamburg’s largest and oldest orchestra, looking back on many years of musical history. When the “Philharmonic Orchestra” and the “Orchestra of the Hamburg Municipal Theatre” merged in 1934, two tradition-steeped orchestras combined. Philharmonic concerts have been performed in Hamburg since 1828, artists such as Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms being regular guests of the Philharmonic Society. The history of the opera company goes back even further: Hamburg has been home to musical theatre since 1678, even if a regular opera or theatre orchestra was only formed later. To this day, the Philharmonic State Orchestra has embodied the sound of the Hansa City, a concert and opera orchestra in one.
During its long history, the orchestra encountered great artist personalities. Apart from composers of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, such as Telemann, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Mahler, Prokofiev and Stravinsky, since the 20th century chief conductors such as Karl Muck, Joseph Keilberth, Eugen Jochum, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Horst Stein, Aldo Ceccato, Christoph von Dohnányi, Gerd Albrecht, Ingo Metzmacher and Simone Young have shaped the orchestra’s sound. Renowned conductors of the pre-war era such as Otto Klemperer, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Karl Böhm and Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt gave brilliant performances, as did outstanding conductors of our times: suffice it to mention Christian Thielemann, Semyon Bychkov, Kirill Petrenko, Adam Fischer and Sir Roger Norrington.
Starting with the 2015/2016 season, Kent Nagano has taken on the position of Hamburg’s General Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra and the Hamburg State Opera and since June 2023 also its honorary conductor. In his first season Kent Nagano initiated a new project, the Philharmonic Academy, focusing on experimentation and chamber music. In 2016, Nagano and the Philharmonic toured South America, followed by concert tours to Spain and Japan in 2019, and in the spring of 2023, the Philharmonic State Orchestra made its debut at New York's Carnegie Hall under his direction, which was acclaimed by audiences and the press. Since 2017 Kent Nagano and the Philharmonic State Orchestra have continued the traditional Philharmonic Concerts at the new Elbphilharmonie, for which they commissioned Jörg Widmann to compose the oratorio ARCHE, which was given its world premiere during the hall’s opening festivities. The concert recording has been released by ECM, for which Widmann received the OPUS KLASSIK as Composer of the Year 2019, and ARCHE was performed again in 2023 to great acclaim.
The Philharmonic State Orchestra offers approximately 35 concerts per season and performs more than 240 performances per year at the Hamburg State Opera and the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier, making it Hamburg’s busiest orchestra. The stylistic bandwidth covered by the 140 musicians, ranging from historically informed performance practice to contemporary works and including concert, opera and ballet repertoire, is unique throughout Germany. Chamber Music has a long tradition at the Philharmonic State Orchestra: what began in 1929 with a concert series for chamber orchestra has been continued since 1968 by a series of chamber music only.
In 2008 Simone Young and the Philharmonic State Orchestra won the Brahms Award of the Schleswig-Holstein Brahms Society. The orchestra has recorded the complete Ring by Wagner as well as the complete symphonies of Johannes Brahms and Anton Bruckner – the latter in the rarely-performed original versions – as well as works by Mahler, Hindemith and Berg, and has released DVDs of opera and ballet productions by Hosokawa, Offenbach, Reimann, Auerbach, J.S. Bach, Puccini, Poulenc and Weber.
The members of the Philharmonic State Orchestra feel equally beholden to Hamburg’s musical tradition and responsible for the city’s artistic future. Since 1978 the musicians have been participating in education programmes in Hamburg’s schools. Today, the orchestra maintains a broad education programme, including school and kindergarten visits, patronage for music projects, introductory events for children and family concerts. The orchestra’s own academy prepares young musicians for their professional careers. The Philharmonic’s musicians thereby make an equally enjoyable and valuable contribution to tomorrow’s music education in the music metropolis of Hamburg.
photo: Foto: Felix Broede