Michael Birkmeyer

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Michael Birkmeyer (born October 20, 1943 in Vienna ) is an Austrian ballet dancer , choreographer , former artistic director and artistic director of the Festspielhaus St. Pölten and moderator .

Life

Birkmeyer comes from a family that has produced dancers for several generations. His father, Toni Birkmeyer , was a solo dancer at the Vienna State Opera and head of the ballet school at the Vienna State Opera. Birkmeyer received his first lessons from his father; later he studied with the dancer Victor Gsovsky , the husband of the dancer Tatjana Gsovsky , in Paris . He received his first engagement in 1960 with the ballet of the Vienna State Opera. Further private studies took place with Rudolf Nurejew , who later became Birkmeyer's mentor. With Nurejew he worked on solo parts in his choreography of Swan Lake . Later he took over Prince Siegfried in Nureyev's choreography .

In 1967 Birkmeyer became a solo dancer at the Vienna State Opera. In 1972 he became first solo dancer there. He was first solo dancer there up to and including the season 1987/1988. In the course of his career, Birkmeyer danced both the leading roles in the classical ballet repertoire and in modern ballet choreographies. He has appeared in choreographies by George Balanchine , Hans van Manen , Maurice Bejart , John Cranko , Rudi van Dantzig , Tom Schilling and Wacław Orlikowski .

His brilliant roles included Tancredi in the ballet of the same name by Hans Werner Henze , the title role in the ballet The Pagoda Prince by Benjamin Britten and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in the choreography by John Cranko. At the Vienna State Opera he danced with Lilly Scheuermann in the ballet Daphnis and Chloe by Maurice Ravel .

Birkmeyer has made guest appearances at Covent Garden Opera in London , South America , Cuba and Japan as part of several tours of the Vienna State Opera. At the American Ballet Theater in New York City he danced solo roles in the ballets Giselle and Raimonda . He was a guest soloist with the Australian Ballet ( The Australian Ballet ), where he worked in solo roles with Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn occurred. Birkmeyer also danced with Nurejew in Béjart's choreography of Mahler's Songs of a Journeyman .

From 1985 to 2001 Birkmeyer was director of the ballet school of the Austrian Federal Theaters . From the 2001/2002 season until the end of the 2008/2009 season, Birkmeyer was artistic director and artistic director of the Festspielhaus St. Pölten . His successor was Joachim Schloemer .

After completing his career as a dancer, Birkmeyer worked as a presenter for Austrian television , where he presented various musical entertainment shows for several years. With Lore Krainer , he moderated the series That Was Only Once . In 1988 he also took on the role of choreographer Zack in the musical A Chorus Line at the Raimund Theater in Vienna . He also appeared several times in the ARD TV show One Will Win as a dancer, for example in Oberlaa in 1979 and in Vienna in 1981.

Birkmeyer is married and has two children.

Awards

He was appointed professor by the Republic of Austria . He was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art 1st Class and the Great Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria .

In January 2014 he received the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold for services to the federal state of Lower Austria .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Everything! Out of the ordinary! Wiener Zeitung ; September 14, 2007 (accessed November 14, 2013)
  2. ↑ Oper 1987 , (Yearbook of the Opernwelt magazine), Documentation, p. 123
  3. ↑ So Who Needs Karajan? Essay by Janos Gereben (with photo)
  4. ↑ Decision: Who will follow Michael Birkmeyer? ORF.at
  5. ↑ Joachim Schloemer follows Michael Birkmeyer ORF.at , accessed on October 25, 2013
  6. ↑ Michael Birkmeyer ORF.at ; Culinary
personal data
SURNAME Birkmeyer, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian ballet dancer and choreographer
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna , Austria