Thorsten Kreissig

Thorsten Michael Kreissig (born October 2, 1963 in Reutlingen ) is a German director , choreographer , actor , script doctor , ballet dancer , theater and sports teacher and concept developer.

Life

Kreissig is the son of a ballet teacher and a concert promoter.

He has already worked for the Theater des Westens Berlin, the State Opera Unter den Linden Berlin, the Bavarian State Theater Munich, the Graz Opera House , the Lucerne International Music Festival , the Württemberg State Theater Stuttgart , the Malmö Stadsteater , the Turkish State Opera Izmir and the Kennedy Center Washington . Parallel to his artistic work, he is involved in educational work and has accompanied and developed projects for foundations.

dancer

First, he trained as a classical dancer at the John Cranko School in Stuttgart . As part of performances by the Stuttgart Ballet , he had his first solo roles, a. a. as Tsarevich in Anastasia by Kenneth McMillan . He was also a visiting student at the Académie de Danse Princesse Grace in Monaco and at the Cologne Dance Weeks , where he also did tap dance and pantomime a . a. at Samy Molcho . He successfully took part in several competitions. In 1982 he received the silver medal at the German ballet competition “Youth and Ballet” and in 1986 also successfully took part in the International Ballet Competition in Varna (Bulgaria), where he took 6th place.

From 1986 to 1990 he was permanently engaged as a soloist at the ballet of the Lower Saxony State Opera in Hanover, where he a. a. when Puck was seen in a Midsummer Night's Dream , Benno in Swan Lake or Petruschka in the ballet of the same name.

From 1990 he worked as a freelancer and entered a. as the devil in Birgit Cullberg's Kampen um Kungakronen at the Stadsteater Malmö and as Mercutio in Tom Schilling's Romeo and Juliet . From 1992 he put his career as a dancer in the background.

In 2007 he was cast as Jacques Offenbach in Maurice Béjart's Gaîté Parisienne with the Stuttgart Ballet , but suffered a serious injury a week before the premiere. In autumn 2007 he then took on the role of governess in David Lichine's cadet ball at the National Theater in Munich .

Acting and musical career

Kreissig took acting and singing lessons in Hanover and embodied a. a. the puck in Carl Maria von Weber's Oberon . In May 1990 he made his debut as an entertainer with the solo program "The Funtom of the Opera". In 1991 he won first prize at the national singing competition in Berlin. In 1992 he participated in the world premiere of Bomb Mood - The Ufa Revue in the Kennedy Center in Washington and in the European premiere in the Berlin Theater des Westens. His repertoire also included the "conférencier" in Cabaret , "Riff" in Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story , the "Sigismund" in the White Horse Inn , which he played in several en-suite productions in the Komödie am Kurfürstendamm in Berlin and the Komödie im Bayerischen Hof in Munich and “Cosmo Brown” in Singin 'In The Rain , played in the film by Donald O'Connor .

choreographer

Even during his training as a dancer, Kreissig created numerous short pieces for the school performances of the John Cranko School. In Hanover, too, he worked as a choreographer, initially for drama and later also for ballet and opera. In 1988 he was invited by Konstanze Vernon to work on a choreography of Prokoffiev's Peter and the Wolf for the cooperation of the Heinz Bosl Foundation and the Munich Philharmonic . In 1991 he created his first commissioned choreography with Traumschweig on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Braunschweig State Theater .

Ballet director

After taking part in the 1st International Choreography Competition of the Min-On Foundation in Tokyo in 1991 , he was employed at the Lucerne Theater from 1992 to 1996 as the youngest ballet director and chief choreographer in Switzerland . With his troupe of technically and artistically outstanding dancers, he built up an extensive repertoire that ranged from neoclassical works to subtle adaptations of great classical narrative ballets to modern dance theater. Annual contributions to the Lucerne International Music Festival established his reputation as a realizer of exceptional, cross-disciplinary theater productions and open-air events. In 1992 he realized Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel, an absurd spoken theater based on Jean Cocteau to the music of the Groupe des Six , in 1993 a complete evening to works by the composer in residence Alfred Schnittke and finally in 1995 an open air under the title Pictures in the Park -Spectacle with jazz musicians and dancers around the Richard Wagner Museum in Tribschen .

Theater director

From 1996 Kreissig again worked as a freelancer and focused on directing in music theater, often providing direction and choreography in personal union. His West Side Story in Gera was the first production in Germany that was based in the 1950s according to the new publishing guidelines. With ballet, drama and opera, Kreissig brought together all branches of the house with guests from the musical sector. A long-term cooperation developed with the Rossini Festival in Wildbad , where his sense of underground comedy in connection with known and unknown bel canto operas was fascinating. In 1992 he had overseen the German premiere of Rossini's L'equivoco stravagante , followed by L'occasione fa il ladro in 2005 and L'italiana in Algeri Dubai in 2007 . In more than 120 productions of various styles - from street operas, dance adventures, fashion shows and adventure events, he has repeatedly pushed the boundaries of artistic experience in a humorous and effective way.

From the mid-1990s, he increasingly worked as a theater writer. There were film reviews and various solo and duo programs.

Cultural mediator - theater pedagogue

Pedagogical theater work with laypeople and semi-professionals of all ages represent a further focus. After the first ballets for and with children, he also turned more to the acting aspects. In 1998 he taught at the Bavarian Theater Academy in the musical department. 2000–2003 he assisted Rolf Reuter in conducting lessons at the Hanns Eisler Music Academy in Berlin.

In 2007 he organized Dance the Cranko, the first public viewing for dance in Europe. In 2009 he sent over 150 talented gymnastics children to gyms with the cat Kim on a big trip around the world for the Kinderturnstiftung Baden-Württemberg . In 2011 he developed an infotainment event concept for the highly gifted Mensa Association under the title “Cologne thinks with” , which further developed the successful American educational format of the TED Talks and also made the live event accessible free of charge.

Cooperations with sports associations

The connection between culture and sport is very important to Kreissig's work. On the one hand, he addressed sporting events in his pieces: Boris Becker's career was inspired by the figure of a tennis player in Nach Ansage (1986), in Traumschweig (1991) a role as "The Sportsman" was identified. In October 2009, Kreissig developed a children's gymnastics show with over 120 participants for the Swabian Gymnastics Association and the Baden-Württemberg Children's Gymnastics Foundation.

Education policy work

Since 2005, Kreissig has also been working as a communication coach and trainer for scientists and universities. So u. a. for the company founders at the Leuphana University in Lüneburg , the jDPG , the Association of German Industrial Engineers or as a guest lecturer at the University of Sports in Stuttgart.

Competitions, prizes and awards

• 1991: 1st Prize of the Governing Mayor of the Federal German Singing Competition "Musical and Chanson"
• 1991: Invitation and participation in the “1. International Choreographers Competition "in Tokyo (23 participants worldwide)
• 1989: Finalist in the Federal German Singing Competition "Musical and Chanson"
• 1988: Sixth place at the International Ballet Competition in Varna
• 1988: Culture sponsorship award from Nobilis magazine
• 1982: Silver medal at the Federal German Ballet Competition "Youth and Ballet"

List of works

Direction of opera / operetta / musical (selection)

I love you, you're perfect	State Theater Cottbus	2012
I love you, you're perfect	State theaters of Saxony, Radebeul	2010
Italiana in Algeri Dubai	Rossini in Wildbad	2008
Trazom Kiasom	Herrenhausen Festival Hanover	2006
I Gelosi	Rossini in Wildbad	2006
Happy Birthday, Mozart!	Ingolstadt Theater	2006
L'occasione fa il ladro	Rossini in Wildbad	2005
West Side Story	Altenburg Theater Gera	2005
Polish blood	Görlitz Theater	2004
Countess Mariza (Coregie)	Theater Western Pomerania	2004
Rocky Horror Show	Municipal theater in Hof	1997
La Cenerentola	United Theaters Graz, Austria	1995
L'Equivoco Stravagante	Rossini in Wildbad	1993

Other directors for music theater (selection)

Dance Dinner for One	Theater La Fourmi, Lucerne	2010
Kim's big journey	Children's Gymnastics Foundation Baden-Württemberg	2009
Building Europe Now	Landessportbund NRW, European project	2003
Reewüüh	State Youth Choir Lower Saxony	2002
Have fun with Satie	Munich Philharmonic	2000
Peter and the Wolf	State Theater Cottbus	2000
Story of the soldier	German State Opera Unter den Linden, Berlin	1999
the winter trip	Dance Theater Hanover	1997
We make music (film revue)	Opera House Hall	1995
The wedding on the Eiffel Tower	International Music Festival Lucerne	1992

Choreographies for musicals, operas and operettas

The Threepenny Opera	Ingolstadt Theater	2005
West Side Story	Altenburg Theater Gera	2005
Polish blood	Görlitz Theater	2004
Countess Mariza	Theater Western Pomerania	2004
The wizard of Ooz	Anhaltisches Theater Dessau	2003
The bird dealer	State Theater on Gärtnerplatz, Munich	2001
The Magic Flute	State Theater on Gärtnerplatz, Munich	2000
In the Weisses Rössl	Comedy on the Kudamm, Berlin	2000
Fellini - Fellini	Schillertheater NRW	1999
Story of the soldier	State Opera Unter den Linden, Berlin	1999
Fifty - Fifty (50s revue)	Concert Directorate Landgraf	1998
La Cage aux Folles	Bernhard Theater, Zurich	1998
The man from La Mancha	Clingenburg Festival	1998
Threepenny Opera	Bavarian State Theater	1998
Hello Dolly	Hanover State Opera	1997
the sold bride	Theater Basel	1996
Aunt Tilly and the great twenties	Hanover State Opera	1996
Cabaret	Lucerne City Theater	1993
Jesus Christ superstar	Ettlingen Castle Festival	1992
Orpheus in the underworld	State Theater Hanover	1989
Prairie saloon	New Theater Hanover	1988
line 1	State Theater Hanover	1988

Choreographies Ballets (selection)

Bir Kumru Masali	Izmir State Opera (Turkey)	2007
Game over, Petrushka	Mainfrankentheater Würzburg	2004
Hamlet associations	Rossini in Wildbad	1996
Crazy clips	Lucerne ballet	1995
Research IV (music: Rolf Schimmermann)	Lucerne ballet	WP 1995
Rossini tips	Rossini in Wildbad	1995
Coppélia or the Sandman	Lucerne ballet	1995
pictures in the park	International Music Festival Lucerne	1994
The Phoenix	Lucerne ballet	1994
Peer!	Lucerne ballet	1994
Concerto for piano and strings	International Music Festival Lucerne	1993
sleeping Beauty	Lucerne ballet	1993
The wedding on the Eiffel Tower	International Music Festival Lucerne	1992
Rossinianas	Palau de Musica, Valencia (Spain)	1992
The trip	Choreographers Competition Tokyo	1991
Dream silence	State Theater Braunschweig	1991
DIGITS	Stadsteater Malmö (Sweden)	1990
The Magic Flute (complete ballet version)	Theater am Aegi (Hanover)	1988

Role repertoire drama & musical (selection)

Cosmo Brown	Singin 'in the Rain	Director: Dirk Böhling	State Theater Detmold	2008
governess	Cadet Ball	Choir .: David Lichine	Heinz Bosl Foundation Munich	2007
Offenbach	Gaité Parisienne	Choir .: Maurice Béjart	Stuttgart Ballet	2007
Pope	Marquis de Sade	Director: Gregor Seyffert	Anhaltisches Theater Dessau	2006
Captain Sunny Hill	Flower of Hawaii	Director: Andrea Schwalbach	German State Opera Unter den Linden	2003/04
Organ grinder Willi	Dear organ grinder	Director:	Opera House Hall	2002
Sigismund Sülzheimer	The white horse	Director: Ralf Rossa	Opera House Hall	2002
Mercury	Orpheus id the underworld	Director: Karl Ansenger	Opera House Hall	2001/02
reef	West Side Story	Director: Bernd Palma	Opera House Hall	2001
Cosmo Brown	Singin 'in the Rain	Director: Renate Rochell	Municipal theater in Hof	2001
Erik Satie	Having fun with Erik Satie	Director: Thorsten Kreissig	Munich Philharmonic	2000
Prince Orlofsky	The bat	Director: Beat Wyrsch	POC, Pocket Opera Nuremberg	1999
Devil, princess	Story of the soldier	Director: T.Kreissig	German State Opera Unter den Linden	1999
Main role (changing characters)	Fifty-Fifty	Director: Uwe Nielsen	Concert Directorate Landgraf	1999
Sigismund Sülzheimer	The white horse	Director: Franz Winter	Comedy in the Bayrischer Hof, Munich	1997/98
Barnaby Tucker	Hello Dolly	Director: Karl Wesseler	Hanover State Opera	1997
Various roles	Aunt Tilly & the 20s	Directed by Charles Ebert	Hanover State Opera	1997/98
Emcee	Cabaret	Director: Michael Wedekind	Lucerne City Theater	1993/94
Hitler	UfA - Revue	Director: Jürg Burth	Theater des Westens, Berlin	1992

literature

• Claudia Rosiny: Thorsten Kreissig . In: Andreas Kotte (Ed.): Theater Lexikon der Schweiz . Volume 2, Chronos, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0715-9 , p. 1033 f.

Web links

• Thorsten Kreissig website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Video clips under “Dance the Cranko” on youtube.