André Doutreval

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André Doutreval (born January 5, 1942 in Vienna ) is a former Austrian dancer , ballet master , choreographer and dance teacher . He is one of those stage artists who gave new impulses to role interpretation in both the classical repertoire and modern choreography. André Doutreval embodied in his performances less the graceful Danseur noble of earlier times than the powerful and expressive dancer with almost acrobatic performances, each of which he achieved with the ease of a top athlete. In this sense, in his heyday he had something in common with Rudolf Nureyev , who once shared the stage with him in a performance of Tchaikovsky's Ballet of Sleeping Beauty .

childhood and education

André Doutreval was born in the former Vienna Leopoldstadt , which belonged to the Russian occupation zone in 1945. As the fifth scion of an extended family, like most of the war children living in Vienna, he spent years of hardship.

His basic training as a dancer began when he was five years old at the Adi Kühn ballet school. In 1950 he entered the Vienna State Opera Ballet School , which he completed alongside elementary and secondary school. After graduation in 1957 he made his debut at the Vienna State Opera as an apprentice and then enjoyed a seven-year training at Adele Krause Ecker , once acclaimed prima ballerina , the Australian teacher and ballet dancer Gordon Hamilton , as well as the former principal dancer Risa Dirtl . The student soon proved himself as a group dancer in the ballet ensemble, which in 1958 was still under the direction of Erika Hanka. At this time he also danced in the Vienna Volksoper and in the Raimund Theater . He then appeared on various theater stages and sometimes danced at the famous operetta festival at the Seespiele in Mörbisch in Burgenland . It didn't take long for the young talent to be seen as a bearer of hope in the Viennese scene.

Career

In 1960 he was soon noticed as a solo dancer in the Klagenfurt City Theater . He also tried his hand at choreography for the first time. The success encouraged him to work abroad as well. A year later he moved to the opera of the stages of the city of Cologne .

In 1962 he moved to Switzerland , where he worked as a solo dancer in the Bern City Theater for a year . A highlight of his part was the 1962 ballet to the great orchestral fantasy Scheherazade by Nikolai Andrejewitsch Rimski-Korsakow . He got together with his future wife, Silvia Haemmig. The cultural columns of the Bern media were full of praise for them too. The Bernese Bund wrote : "At the last two performances of the ballet evening at the Stadttheater, Silvia Haemmig from Bern danced the role of Zobeide with impressive skill and warmly celebrated by the audience in Rimski-Korsakov's Sherezade."

In 1963 a guest engagement for the ballet Swan Lake attracted André Doutreval to the Augsburg Festival in the amphitheater in front of the Red Gate . Immediately after the last Schwanensee performance, he was hired as a solo dancer to Wuppertal . At the opera house there , he received a standing ovation from the audience. The theater world there was particularly impressed by the world premiere of the ballet The Dancer of Our Lady by Erich Walter and Heinrich Wendel in January 1964. The criticism in the local press was devastating despite the unique set design. But the press had nothing but praise for the dancer: “André Doutreval had almost the only rewarding solo assignment as a 'dancer'; he amazed with virtuoso acrobatics, managed to jump into the push-ups several times in a row. The classical ballet language was spoken only marginally. " And H. v. Luttwitz said in the Westdeutsche Rundschau: "André Doutreval perceived the title role as a master of high class with obsessive zeal, as if he wanted to imitate Maurice Béjart , the fanatical outsider of the new dance theater." The eulogies of the Düsseldorfer Zeitung on the dancer were hard to beat: "In terms of dance, the end of the almost one-hour work is determined by the almost superhuman performance of the juggler, with whom André Doutreval introduces himself as a 'star' of great brilliance and powerful expressiveness."

After his biographical major Intermezzo in Wuppertal André Doutreval changed as a solo dancer at the Ballet on the Rhine , which is the Opera House Dusseldorf and the Theater Duisburg played. In 1967 Doutreval climbed the next step on the corporate ladder. He became first solo dancer at the Deutsche Oper Berlin . There he danced under the aegis of the British choreographer Kenneth MacMillan . The Austrian soon rose to become ballet director and choreographer.

In March 1969 the dancer first came to the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt / Main as a guest . Half a year later, on August 18, 1969, the house hired him. He worked as a coordinated solo dancer, training director and assistant to the ballet director. The great moments of his choreographies include Krzysztof Penderecki's Sonata per Violoncelle e Orchestra and the study 6 x 2 by Alfred Schust, both of which were performed in Frankfurt .

In 1970 André Doutreval was appointed ballet director and chief choreographer at the Staatstheater Kassel . Hans Joachim Schaefer, who was the chief dramaturge there from 1959 to 1989 , recalls: “In the history of the Kassel State Theater, he [Doutreval] was a pioneer. This is primarily the basis of his lasting, quite great achievement and the well-deserved recognition that he enjoyed. My interest in ballet has changed fundamentally since working with him. "

Dance pedagogy

In 1976, André Doutreval and his wife Silvia Haemmig (1940–2017) took over the management of the Kassel Ballet Arena and moved the institution, now known as the Doutreval Ballet School , to its own premises at Kassel's Königstor . The development program ranged from children's movement exercises to stage-ready performances. The dancers provided a varied mediation and maintenance of different dance styles such as classical , jazz or tap . When designing the teaching program, André Doutreval was guided by the fact that musicality, harmony and body awareness can be promoted even in the youngest years of life. The top priority of the ballet school was therefore a harmonious and enjoyable movement education. This included, among other things, a musical and creative movement training. «An important sub-goal of our ballet lessons was building tolerance and reducing insecurity. Great emphasis was therefore placed on movement coordination and body control right from the start, because the learners thus achieve a self-confident demeanor, paired with a physiologically optimal posture, ”explains Doutreval, looking back on his training activities.

André Doutreval and Silvia Haemmig have made guest appearances with their dance ensemble in various cities in Germany and Switzerland. The abstract stage composition by Wassily Kandinsky , presented in connection with the exhibition Der Blaue Reiter in the Bern Art Museum , which was performed on the large stage of the National Bern , made headlines . The Doutreval-Haemmig couple also organized several summer courses at the Bernese Dance School in Kreuzberg and gave lessons at the Swiss Professional Ballet School of Malou Fenaroli Leclerc, which later became the Zurich Dance Academy (taZ) and which in 2005 became part of the Performing Arts and Film Department of the Zurich University der Künste (ZHdK).

In 1977 the artist couple Doutreval-Haemmig set another milestone: together with their students, they presented a widely received performance with movement-controlled sounds at the Biennale di Venezia and Documenta 6 in Kassel.

The artist couple moved to Bern in 1995 and gave up the artistic direction of their ballet school in Kassel . It was taken over by Verena Renner, who continues the musical and pedagogical principles of the Doutrevals at a high level. Since the death of his partner in 2017, André Doutreval has led a secluded life in retirement. The widower now lives in Bern's Kirchenfeld district and temporarily in Spain .

choreography

André Doutreval has choreographed over 40 different ballet performances in German-speaking Europe in the course of his professional life. Extract from his reference list:

Awards

  • 1984: Silver Medal of Honor from the Cooperative of German Stage Members (GDBA)
  • 1994: Award of the Silver Badge of Honor of the City of Kassel
  • 1999: Gold Medal of Honor from the Cooperative of German Stage Members
  • 2009: Great Gold Medal of Honor from the Cooperative of German Stage Members

Web links

literature

  • Horst Koegler, Helmut Günther, Reclams Ballettlexikon , Stuttgart 1984, p. 126
  • Helga Heil, Frankfurter Ballett from 1945 to 1985: a photo documentation with pictures, figurines, models, drawings and posters , Stuttgart 1986, p. 121, 136
  • Elisabeth Th. Hilscher, article Doutreval, André , in: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon , Vienna 2002, p. 126

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Successful Bernese Dancer , in: Der Bund , Local Chronicle, No. 127, morning edition, Bern 1992, p. 9.
  2. ^ Alfons Neukirchen, vision of medieval life. A masterpiece at the last Wuppertal ballet evening , in: Düsseldorfer Zeitung , No. 27, Düsseldorf February 1, 1964, o. P.
  3. ^ Alfons Neukirchen, vision of medieval life. A masterpiece at the last Wuppertal ballet evening , in: Düsseldorfer Zeitung , No. 27, Düsseldorf February 1, 1964, o. P.
  4. ↑ Hans Joachim Schaefer, you may not have tried everything yet. Memories , Kassel 2007, p. 627.
personal data
SURNAME Doutreval, André
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian dancer
DATE OF BIRTH January 5, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna