Tonight Remi will close Dutch National Ballet’s Christmas season of The Nutcracker dancing the Prince to Anu Viheriäranta’s Clara. The show is sold out, but hopefully if you’re without a ticket these shots snapped by Wijnand van der Horst might suffice until next year …
Mathieu Gremillet’s short film about the making of Magdalene, or, In Defence of Beauty (the opera-ballet choreographed by Remi for Dutch National Ballet) will have its silver-screen debut this weekend during the annual Cinedans Film Festival. If you weren’t able to make it to the Amsterdam Muziektheater for the ballet’s premiere and subsequent revival, Mat’s film offers an enticing sample of the performance along with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the creative team. It’s billed together with two further documentaries celebrating 50 years of the Dutch National Ballet and Rudolph Nureyev’s time in the Netherlands. Read the programme.
Remi has been voted one of the top 100 dancers in the world in a survey published by Dance Europe magazine. Remi was nominated for his performances in the 2010-11 season including roles in David Dawson’s myth-inspired Timelapse and his “heartbreaking” debut as Aminta in Sylvia by John Neumeier. The jury, comprising a panel of international dance critics such as Dance Europe’s Emma Manning and Maggie Foyer as well as Judith Mackrell (The Guardian, London) and Wendy Perron (Dance Magazine, New York), voted Remi into 15th position alongside the likes of Sylvie Guillem and Tamara Rojo.
Remi dances “with great feeling and style” according to dance critic Eddie Vetter in yesterday’s De Telegraaf newspaper. Vetter awards four stars to Dutch National Ballet’s current season of Swan Lake, which runs at the Amsterdam Muziektheater until 14 November. Meanwhile Remi has been twice commended by Dance Europe magazine, which writes that he was “bristling with energy” in Hans van Manen’s Five Tangos. In Four Last Songs by Rudi van Dantzig, enthuses Maggie Foyer, ”recent recruits Jurgita Dronina and Remi Wörtmeyer found their metier in this company classic, dancing the opening duet with youthful fragility”.
A busy week for Remi with double premieres and a special reunion scheduled for Dutch National Ballet. On Tuesday 13 September the company will celebrate its 50-year jubilee with a selection of highlights from its repertory vault and the Queen of Orange in attendance. Then, on Thurday 15 September, Remi will take to the stage in two ballets by the company’s most popular choreographers: Vier Letzte Lieder by Rudi van Dantzig and Five Tangos by Hans van Manen as part of the Gold mixed bill. Finally, on Saturday 17 September, a repeat performance of Gold will be accompanied by an on-stage reunion for the many star dancers who’ve trodden the boards for Dutch National Ballet during its 50 years. Buy tickets for Gold.
This Friday Remi will appear in David Dawson’s latest Dutch National Ballet premiere Timelapse, one half of a double-bill that also includes a world premiere from Flemish choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Remi will dance a number of fiercely energetic roles in the new ballet inspired by classical Greek mythology. Buy tickets.
Watch Remi at work creating his recent ballet-opera Magdalene, or, In Defence of Beauty. With thanks to filmmaker Mathieu Gremillet.
Following the great success of its March premiere at the Amsterdam Muziektheater, Remi’s self-choreographed ballet-opera Magdalene, or, In Defence of Beauty will be revived by Dutch National Ballet for a one-off performance on 21 May 2011. The revival will star the original cast of Nadia Yanowksy, Alistair Shelton-Smith and Casey Herd, with musicians Olga Khoziainova and Sonja Schebeck. Magdalene, which you can watch below, features an original libretto and direction by Malcolm Rock with music by Chloé Charody.
Tonight Remi and Maiko Tsutsumi will dance for a charitable gala at the Okura Hotel Amsterdam. The performance of Hans van Manen’s Concertante is part of a greater televised fundraiser that will benefit the Dutch Red Cross and its activities in Japan following the recent tsunami tragedy.
“You can practically hear hearts breaking,” writes Dance Europe’s Maggie Foyer of Remi’s current appearance in Dutch National Ballet’s season of John Neumeier’s Sylvia. Read her double-page article or click here for more reviews.
Choreographer John Neumeier (above left) was present at last night’s historic premiere of Sylvia at the Amsterdam Muziektheater, only the second time a Neumeier ballet has ever been performed in the Netherlands. Watch Remi and Neumeier take their curtain-call in the following video.
Remi will make his opening night principal debut for Dutch National Ballet this Thursday 17 March at 8.15pm, dancing the role of Aminta in Sylvia. With its much-loved score by Léo Delibes, Sylvia has become synonymous with the ballet stage. John Neumeier, one of the profession’s most respected living choreographers, reworked the mythological tale for the Paris Opera Ballet in 2005. This Thursday’s performance will mark its Netherlands premiere. You can book tickets from the Amsterdam Muziektheater website.
On Sunday 27 March Remi will premiere his latest self-choreographed work, Magdalene, an original ballet-opera created in collaboration with director-librettist Malcolm Rock and composer Chloé Charody. The work features Dutch National Ballet stars Nadia Yanowsky and Casey Herd with Covent Garden baritone Alistair Shelton-Smith, and tells the story of two soldiers competing for the affections of the title character. Magdalene has its debut on the main stage of the Amsterdam Muziektheater alongside choreographies by Juanjo Arqués, Hans van Manen and George Balanchine.
Today Remi is on a KLM flight to Beijing in advance of performances of Alexei Ratmansky’s Don Quixote and Benjamin Millepied’s One Thing Leads to Another. He has performed in China before, in Shanghai, but this will be his first time on the stage of the National Centre for Performing Arts, a spectacular dome-shaped glass venue encircled by its own moat.
Choreographer Juanjo Arques has created a role for Remi in his new ballet Minos, which will debut tonight at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. The premiere is part of Cultural Days, a programme of performing arts presented annually by the European Central Bank.
Tonight Remi will perform in the world premiere of Benjamin Millepied’s One Thing Leads to Another as part of the Dutch National Ballet’s Strong Voices mixed bill. The ballet, with a commissioned score by prodigious young composer Nico Muhly, will appear alongside Krzysztof Pastor’s Moving Rooms and Without Words, a brand new ballet by Hans van Manen. For a peek behind the scenes of One Thing Leads to Another, play the video below.
Visit the dance images page for new snaps of the Eleventh Hour performance and rehearsals. Eleventh Hour was choreographed by Remi for the Dutch National Ballet New Moves season and was danced by himself and Nadia Yanowsky. You can watch footage of the ballet at dance videos. Images by Casey Herd.
Wrote Remi in his programme notes: “Nadia immediately caught my eye and has provoked my imagination since the day I joined Dutch National Ballet. I told her so during our very first class together six months ago, but I doubt she remembers. We were fortunate to share the stage earlier this year for William Forsythe’s In the Middle Somewhat Elevated, and we have been looking for another chance to dance together. Thanks to Ted Brandsen, who encouraged me to choreograph this short, romantic pas de deux, we are able to perform for you again. What you are about to see is my response to Ted’s kind request, as well as to Nadia’s unique versatility as a dramatic dancer.”
Thanks to all the fans of my website. It has earned a 2010 Top Ballet Blog Award from Online Schools. The award aims to ”highlight the very best blogs to learn about ballet and all things related”. It is nominated anonymously by members of the internet community and awarded by a select panel of Online Schools judges who “rate each blog across 20 different attributes, including content, frequency of updates, length of posts and readability”. Remi
Remi is in Japan preparing for his appearance in the Ballet Asteras gala at the New National Theatre. He will perform the Grand Pas Classique at the newly opened Tokyo theatre on Sunday 1 August alongside stars from the Paris Opera Ballet, Kiev Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and Tokyo Ballet. It hasn’t been much of a vacation for Remi, who should be putting up his feet between seasons at Dutch National Ballet. He has only recently concluded a week in the Czech Republic where he was guest soloist for the Prague International Ballet staging of Alo Diamonds Étoiles: Swan Lake at the Státní Opera. On returning home to Holland next week he will go straight into rehearsals for two new ballets: the first a pas de cinq by Juanjo Arqués, the second a world premiere by French choreographer David Millepied.
This time next week Remi will make his debut in William Forsythe’s inimitable ballet In the Middle Somewhat Elevated. Wednesday 7 April at 20.15 hours will be the first time Dutch National Ballet has ever performed the “iconic” work created in 1987 for the Paris Opera Ballet and its étoilé Sylvie Guillem. Remi will dance one of three principal pas de deux for its premiere at Amsterdam’s Muziektheater. In the Middle follows an auspicious start to Remi’s tenure with the chief ballet company of the Netherlands. He will also feature in Balanchine’s Theme and Variations that is part of the same mixed-bill. Be sure to book tickets and play the videos below for glimpses of Remi in rehearsal and performance.
Remi’s new Tadzio ballet, which premiered last month, has received excellent feedback from Melbourne critics. The Herald Sun’s Chris Boyd wrote that it was the most satisfying dance of the evening: “The compact but brilliant Tadzio by Remi Wörtmeyer [is] a work I’d be happy to see over and over”. Meanwhile Dance Australia editor Karen van Ulzen wrote that “the highlight of the program was a fragment, Tadzio, choreographed to Benjamin Britten’s opera Death in Venice. It is a simple enough conception, but with choreography that flowed easily and flattered the dancers, and enough hint of narrative drive to pique the interest. More of this sort of thing please!” Congratulations to the dancers who brought Tadzio to life, and many thanks to the critics who took the time to publish their thoughts.
To my dear friends, colleagues and followers
After eight wonderful years with the Australian Ballet I have accepted a position with Dutch National Ballet as grands sujet in Amsterdam.
Some of you know that I have spent my holidays during the past years traveling to Europe and America to receive coaching from the greatest teachers while studying beside our generation’s best dancers. The Australian Ballet has encouraged my burning desire to learn and expand and for that I am truly grateful.
I take this new path indebted to those who laid the one before.
My sincere gratitude goes to you who have supported my dancing. You are my motivation and I thank you for making my time in Australia so memorable.
I hope that you will follow me on my journey to the Dutch National Ballet. Remi
“As one who strives to create beauty … I might have created him.”
This Friday 16 December Melbourne Ballet Company will premiere Tadzio, an original ballet choreographed by Remi at Chapel Off Chapel. Tadzio is danced to a movement from the opera Death in Venice. Through the eyes of the German writer Gustav von Aschenbach we watch the young Tadzio cavorting with two other children on the beach in Venice. Tadzio is beauty personified – Eros in swimwear – and he dances to the sung score by Benjamin Britten. Is the amorous youth flirting with his companions, or with us, his voyeurs? For both the matinee and evening performances on Sunday 20 viewers will recieve an extra special treat as Ashton Curtis and Australian Ballet rising star Brooke Locket perform Fantaisie-Impromptu, a lively pas de deux created by Remi to music by Chopin. The season runs until Sunday 20. Book tickets online or by calling (03) 82907000.
This week Remi will take to the Sydney Opera House stage as Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty. His performances on Monday 7 and Friday 11 December at 7.30pm, and on Monday 14 at 6.30pm have already sold out.
This month you can see Remi dance Prince Florimund to Miwako Kubota’s Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty. The gold gilded production is on at the Arts Centre in Melbourne on Saturday 12 September at 1.30pm and Thursday 17 September at 6.30pm. Remi will also dance the Bluebird on Wednesday 9, Saturday 12, Wednesday 16 and Saturday 19 at 7.30pm. Book tickets.
Image by Jeff Busby
Two of the world’s most important living choreographers have created brand new roles for Remi, both of which he will premiere this Friday 21 August at the Arts Centre in Melbourne. Remi will star in Dyad 1929 by Wayne McGregor who is resident choreographer of the Royal Ballet and artistic director of Britain’s experimental Random Dance troupe. In the same triple-bill (which also includes Nacho Duato’s Por Vos Muero), Remi will feature in Alexei Ratmansky’s Scuolo di Ballo, a comic tale about the high jinks that go on in an Italian ballet school. Ratmansky is artist in residence at American Ballet Theatre (with whom Remi danced in 2006) and former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. This will be something special so book tickets.
The final reviews have been published and Fade Not has proved to critics just how well ballet and opera can unite on the stage. Journalists in Sydney wrote that the ballet used ”a poignant theme” (Sydney Morning Herald) to create “a moving piece in which the dance rose and fell with the tide of feeling” (The Daily Telegraph). National daily The Australian compared Remi’s choreography with that of Kenneth MacMillan while The Australian Stage praised ”librettist and eminent director Malcolm Rock” for his words and Lisa Cheney for her score that was “the sweetest swoon, enchanting”. It also asserted that Fade Not was “the most unexpected, non-conformist” work of the 2009 Bodytorque programme. Michelle Potter of the Canberra Times summed it up best as “a courageous experiment in linking dancer and singer, movement and voice” with “an innate sense of clarity and harmony”. She wrote that the ballet-opera was able to “grab the audience’s attention from the opening moment and hold it throughout … with a strongly focussed approach”. Many thanks to those critics who took the time to write about the show.
Remi returns to the Arts Centre stage in Melbourne this month as the Prince in Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker the Story of Clara. You can see him dance the central pas de deux with Rachel Rawlins on Tuesday 9 and Saturday 13 June at 7.30pm. Book tickets.
The Bodytorque season of new choreography opens this week at Sydney Theatre Walsh Bay where Remi’s original ballet-opera, Fade Not, will have its premiere. There are only five performances of Fade Not: Wednesday 27, Thursday 28 and Friday 29 May at 8pm, and Saturday 30 May at 3pm and 8pm. Read about the creation of the work and then book tickets.
Remi in the rehearsal studio (image by Mark Dohring)
During May Remi will perform the Prince in Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker the Story of Clara at the Sydney Opera House. Murphy’s production is very different from the more traditional version by Peter Wright that Remi starred in during Christmas 2007. The ballet shifts from Russia to China, Spain and Australia during a whirlwind Ballet Russes tour. You can see him dance the role with Rachel Rawlins on Wednesday 6 May at 1.30pm, Saturday 9 at 7.30pm, Wednesday 13 at 1.30pm and Saturday 16 at 1.30pm. Book tickets.
With her final breath a mother evokes the life and love destined for her newborn daughter through a bittersweet lullaby.
I conceived the ballet-opera Fade Not in London last year where writer-director Malcolm Rock and I were devising ways to use voice and dance in a mutually imperative fashion. Passing my concept to Malcolm he transformed it into a poetic libretto from which key choreographic sequences began to manifest in my mind. After listening to numerous samples from local and international composers, Gerard Brophy pointed me towards Lullaby, a vocal score that received first prize at the Keys Music Festival, by Brisbane composer Lisa Cheney. I invited Lisa to compose Fade Not and during the past four months she has taken the libretto and choreographic ideas and composed a touching score for soprano, piano and clarinet.
The role of the mother is performed by Naomi Johns, a passionate soprano currently touring My Fair Lady with Opera Australia. The daughter and her ideal ‘Love’ are danced by Australian Ballet soloists Gina Brescianini and Paul Knobloch. The aim is to harness their respective disciplines of opera and ballet in tandem rather than using one to simply frame the other. When deciding the cast for Fade Not I took into account the aesthetic and artistic attributes necessary for each character. For me the key to a great performer is in his or her artistry – the way they tell the story – in this case through voice and body. Naomi has the correct vocal range and a natural, sensitive inclination for movement that allows her to interact truthfully with the dancers on stage. Gina, with her wide evoking eyes and artistic profundity, revels in the complex emotions of the daughter. Both women must be able to express simultaneously the joy of love and the solitude of loss. The daughter’s ideal ‘Love’ must be a strong partner capable of quite literally sweeping her off her feet. Paul makes a handsome and romantic partner during the central pas de deux that I have created for the young lovers.
Since receiving installments of the score over the internet from Lisa in Brisbane, the dancers and I have been stealing time in the studio – half an hour here, an hour there – while touring the country performing Firebird and Other Legends (for which I am dancing the principal roles in Petrouchka and Les Sylphides). We have already established the skeleton of the ballet: floor patterns, choreographic motifs and the movement vocabulary. Ahead of the ballet-opera’s premiere at the Sydney Theatre in late May, we will spend time colouring the characters and filling in the narrative nuances.
Keep an eye on this site for further updates. In the meantime you might want to book tickets. Remi
On this day 100 years ago Sir Robert Helpmann was born. I’m celebrating by reading the biography by Anna Bemrose, Robert Helpmann: A Servant of Art. The blurb says it all: “Helpmann was a phenomenon in the arts – a giant in seven-league boots striding between ballet, opera, the stage and film in multifaceted roles, which included those of dancer, choreographer, actor, director and producer”. Remi
Helpmann: Servant of Art
This month Remi will perform the title role in Stravinsky’s Petrouchka on Thursday 9 April at 7.30pm, Wednesday 15 at 1.30pm, Saturday 18 at 1.30pm and Tuesday 21 at 7.30pm. He will also dance the poet in the Fokine favourite Les Sylphides on Wednesday 15 at 7.30pm and Monday 20 at 6.30pm. Both performances are part of The Australian Ballet’s Firebird and Other Legends season at the Sydney Opera House. Book tickets. Remi will follow in the footsteps of Fokine next month when he premieres his original choreographic work, Fade Not, at the Sydney Theatre in Walsh Bay.
Between rehearsals for Petrouchka and Les Sylphides, gifted ballerina Halaina Hills and I have been creating a ballet to a beautiful song by Annie Lennox. Our experiments backstage at the Sydney Opera House have resulted in a short memory pas deux, which we have filmed for your enjoyment. Remi
This Friday 27 March Remi will dance his award-winning performance of Grand Tarantella with Reiko Hombo during Ballet in the Gardens at the Brisbane Riverstage. The open-air spectacle - which is free – will also feature excerpts from Don Quixote and La Bayadère and starts at 7pm.
Remi was today nominated for an Australian Dance Award in the category of most outstanding performance by a male dancer last year.
2008 was a busy year for Remi. He spent January in New York learning the 20-minute Baryshnikov solo A Suite Of Dances at New York City Ballet. His ensuing performances of Jerome Robbins’ choreography - which is accompanied by a lone cello and skips from the jovial to the forlorn – roused passionate feedback from fans in the stalls and on this site.
Midyear was spent touring regional Victoria with Robyn Hendricks and The Dancers Company. Audiences in Dandenong, Warragul, Mooroopna, Mildura and Broken Hill were delighted to experience Remi and Robyn’s romantic pas de deux from Les Sylphides and Aurora’s Wedding close to home. Remi was overseas again in October to perform at the historic Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris where he danced the Symphonie Fantastique pastoral couple pas de deux that was created on him and Madeline Eastoe by choreographer Krzysztof Pastor.
Remi’s final performance of the year was perhaps the finest of his career to date. As Des Grieux in Manon he was nuanced and emotive and his turn as the lost-in-love hero allegedly resulted in balletomanes queuing for additional tickets. Kenneth MacMillan would have been proud.
Remi takes a break in the ballet studio (image by Mark Dohring)
Remi begins 2009 newly promoted to the rank of Senior Artist. His first appearance will be as the dejected puppet Petrouchka in the ballet of the same name, which plays as part of the Firebird and Other Legends triple-bill in Melbourne and Sydney. He will also dance the principal role in Les Sylphides as part of the same season.
In May Remi will choreograph a brand new ballet-opera for the Bodytorque season of new choreography at the Sydney Theatre. He will also take part in The Australian Ballet School mentor programme for which he has been asked to impart technical and career advice to the dancers of tomorrow.
The Australian Dance Awards are presented in Melbourne on Sunday 7 June. Click the comments link below to post your support for Remi.
This is a picture of me with Jesse Scales. We are at Terry Simpson Studios in Adelaide – my ballet school where as a child I discovered the joys of dance. Jesse is an impressive young dancer with confidence and a generous attention to improvement and I am coaching her in preparation for a number of upcoming auditions and competitions, including this year’s Genee. Remi
Remi coaching Jesse Scales
Remi will choreograph a new work for The Australian Ballet’s annual Bodytorque season in May. Fade Not is a mother’s bittersweet lullaby for her newborn daughter. The ballet-opera is a collaboration with London librettist Malcolm Rock and Brisbane composer Lisa Cheney that stars dancers Gina Brescianini and Paul Knobloch and Opera Australia soprano Naomi Johns. There are only five scheduled performances of Fade Not at the Sydney Theatre Walsh Bay from 27 to 30 May, so be quick to book tickets and keep an eye on this site for rehearsal details and behind-the-scenes updates.
Mother and Daughter illustration by Remi Wörtmeyer
For the past week I have been soaking up the rays on the endless beaches of Adelaide, South Australia, with my family and friends. It feels great to be home, if only for the festive season. Once Boxing Day has past I head back to Melbourne where I begin my new choreographic work and prepare for an exciting 2009 season with the Australian Ballet. Keep an eye on this website to find out when I am dancing the roles of Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, the devilish snake in Graeme Murphy’s brand new Firebird, and the tragic but lovable title character in Petrouchka. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and rewarding New Year! Remi
Following a successful international tour – which saw him perform at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and London’s historic Sadler’s Wells Theatre – Remi is back in Australia for the Sydney seasons of Interplay and Manon. In the latter he will appear as Chevalier Des Grieux at 1.30pm on Saturday 29 November, then again at 7.30pm on Wednesday 3 December. Book tickets.
