Germany’s Hamburg Ballet Hires New Artistic Director

The German-Argentinian choreographer Demis Volpi has assumed the role, succeeding John Neumeier 

Demis Volpi, 36, will succeed John Neumeier as artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet and as head of the Hamburg Ballet Centre. Neumeier has held the role since 1973.

Volpi was appointed by the Board of Directors of the Hamburg State Opera, which made the decision unanimously based on recommendations from an international search committee. 

Since August 2020, Volpi has served as artistic director and chief choreographer of the Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf/Duisburg. A trained dancer, he works as a choreographer for the National Youth Ballet company, from which he will step down in the summer of 2024. 

Born in Buenos Aires, he first studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte Teatro Colón, before attending Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto and the John Cranko School in Stuttgart. He later joined the Stuttgart corps de ballet. 

He has choreographed dances for the American Ballet Theatre, Ballet de Santiago de Chile, Uruguay’s Ballet Nacional del Sodre, the Latvian National Ballet, Ballett Dortmund, Compañia Nacional de Danza de México, and the Ballet Vlaanderen. From 2013 until 2017 he was the in-house choreographer of the Stuttgart Ballet. 

Among his awards include the Konex Award of the Konex Foundation in Buenos Aires, “Young Artist of the Year” from the magazine Opernwelt, and the German Dance Future Award of the Aalto Theatre in Essen. He was also nominated for the Prix Benois de la Danse and the International Opera Awards.

“Demis Volpi will continue to add to the remarkable story of the Hamburg Ballet, and, with the help of new ideas and insights, lead it into the future,” said the Minister of Culture and Media, Dr. Carsten Brosda in the press release. “...And as a trained dancer Demis Volpi understands the company and what it can do, and the needs of the dancers. I am also extremely grateful to John Neumeier for agreeing to be artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet for another year, which will ensure a smooth transition. Hamburg owes a great deal to its honorary citizen. He has made history in our city with a series of outstanding choreographies. They have made the Hamburg Ballet what it is. So as we place the legacy of John Neumeier in the able hands of Demis Volpi, we hope and believe that ballet in Hamburg can look forward to a brilliant future.”

“In my opinion, each company should have its distinct character,” Neumeier expressed. “In this moment, I trust that Demis Volpi will keep the Hamburg Ballet alive – leading this ensemble into the future with a different, new, but also distinct character. At the same time, I am happy that Lloyd Riggins will stay on as his Deputy Director and also assume a new position as curator and expert for my works. I can only wish Demis Volpi, Lloyd Riggins and the entire Hamburg Ballet the very best for the future.”

“I am delighted that I have been appointed artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet as the successor to John Neumeier and grateful to the members of the search committee for the trust that they have placed in me. I am well aware of the fact that this is a very special challenge,” Volpi added. “The opportunity to follow in the footsteps of an artist who shaped and inspired the company, the city and audiences from around the world for half a century is simply unique.

“Despite all of the difficulties occasioned by the pandemic, in the summer of 2020 I began leading the Ballett am Rhein. We have had wonderful and exhilarating seasons, and two exciting ones are still to come. That I am able to do this work, which has been crowned with the Hamburg appointment, is thanks to the highly motivated dancers of the Ballett am Rhein, to my team and all of my colleagues at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf/Duisburg. I would like to thank John Neumeier for his openness and his positive reaction to my appointment. Without his support this step would have been unthinkable.”