The Ballet Theater Magdeburg consists of 22 dancers from eight nations and, starting with the new season, is under the artistic direction of Jörg Mannes and his team, which includes the choreographic assistant Monica Caturegli and ballet mistress Olga Ilieva. The ensemble places its full range of stylistic versatility and virtuosity at the center of its interpretation of upcoming productions.
A focus of the leadership is the continuous stylistic development, achieved through original productions and guest choreographers of distinction. Renowned choreographers such as Edward Clug and Philippe Kratz, two of the most important figures in contemporary choreography, have collaborated with the Ballet Theater Magdeburg in previous seasons.
Through various formats such as "Nah dran" an invitation for the audience to enter the ballet studio and closely witness the creative process, and the series "Wir, das Ballett" in which backgrounds and rehearsal developments are discussed, we aim to engage in a dialogue with the audience.
The ballet company of Theater Magdeburg is an integral part of the four-section theater of the capital city and actively participates in productions of the opera as well as in the DomplatzOpenAir events.
On the ensemble´s history
In 1907, the opera house on Universitätsplatz opened as a central theater for vaudeville and operettas, which even then included a permanent dance company. For decades, the ballet was subordinate to the opera house and danced primarily in the productions of the musical theater. After reunification, under the direction of Irene Schneider (1991-2006), it developed into an independent division of the now merged Theater Magdeburg. Schneider helped the ballet to great popularity, as with diligence and dedication she and her ensemble created unforgettable ballet evenings and numerous world premieres. From 2006 to 2022, Cuban Gonzalo Galguera made his mark on Ballett Magdeburg, helping the company's 22 dancers achieve great successes that are also internationally recognized. The premiere of the double evening "Verklärte Nacht/Mahler 4" opens the new ballet direction under Jörg Mannes at the beginning of the 22/23 season.
Jörg Mannes, born in Vienna in 1969, was a dancer at the Vienna State Opera from 1985 to 1991. In 1991 he moved to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf as a soloist. In 2000, he became ballet director and chief choreographer at the Stadttheater Bremerhaven before assuming the same position at the Landestheater Linz in 2004. From 2006 to 2019, Mannes directed the ballet at the Hanover State Opera, where he created more than 30 ballet productions, including "Dangerous Liaisons," "Daphnis - Lost Love" and "Henry VIII." Guest choreographies have taken him to the Badisches Staatsballett Karlsruhe, the Bolshoi Ballet Moscow, Indianapolis Ballet Theate and the Bayerisches Staatsballett Munich, among others.
He won several competitions, e.g. the "Concours de chorégraphie classique" and was nominated several times for the German theater award "Der Faust". Since 2022 Mannes is ballet director of the Theater Magdeburg.
“Dance is a universal language that can touch us in a direct way at heart. In my creation I try to connect stories and characters with the here and now, incorporating the dancers personalities into the pieces to take the audience on an emotional journey.”
Jörg Mannes
Ballet director and choreographer at Theater Magdeburg
Productions from the 2023/2024 season
Schneewittchen (2023)
World premiere
Choreography: Jörg Mannes
Music: Giovanni Sollima, Elena Kats-Chernin and Michael Nyman
22 dancers
Stage dimensions: 18 x 17.5 m
Duration: 80 min (incl. intermission)
Borgia (2024)
World premiere
Choreography: Jörg Mannes
Music: Dimitri Shostakovich, Henryk Górecki and Philip Glass
22 dancers
Stage dimensions: 18 x 17.5 m
Duration: 80 min (incl. intermission)
Was ihr wollt (2023)
Revival
Choreography: Jörg Mannes after William Shakespeare
Music: by Max Richter, Ezio Bosso, Philip Glass and others / without orchestra
22 dancers
Stage dimensions: 14 x 8.66 m
Duration: 80 min
Horizonte (2024)
Working title
Choreography: Georg Reischl, Gaj Žmavc
22 dancers
Productions from the 2022/2023 season
Was ihr wollt (2023)
Choreography: Jörg Mannes (after William Shakespeare)
Libretto: Jörg Mannes after Shakespeare
Music: a.o. by Max Richter, Ezio Bosso, Philip Glass
22 dancers
Stage: 14m width, 8,66m depth
Duration: 80 min
Lydia / Le Sacre du Printemps (2023)
Choreography: Philippe Kratz / Edward Clug
Music: Joseph Haydn and others / Igor Stravinsky
22 dancers (Lydia) / 12 dancers (Sacre)
Stage: 18m width, 17,5m depth
Duration: 36 min (Lydia) / 35 min (Sacre) / 20 min (intermission)
Verklärte Nacht / Mahler 4 (2022)
Choreography: Jörg Mannes
Music: Arnold Schönberg / Gustav Mahler
22 dancers, 1 singer
Stage: 18m width, 17,5m depth
Duration: 130 min (incl. intermission)
Productions from the 2021/2022 season
Paquita (2021)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera
Libretto: Paul Foucher & Joseph Mazilier
Music: Édouard Deldevez, Ludwig Minkus a.o.
30 dancers
Stage: 18m width, 17,5m depth
Duration: 160 min
Das Leben: Ein Fest (2022)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera
Music: Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninov, Edvard Grieg
23 dancers
Stage: 18m width, 17,5m depth
Duration: 105 min
Productions from the 2020/2021 season
EDEN ONE (2021)
Online format
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera
Music: George Frideric Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Domenico Cimarosa, Alessandro Marcello
5 dancers
Stage: 18m width, 17,5m depth
Duration: 27 min
Productions from the 2019/2020 season
La Fille mal gardée (Premiere 2019)
Choreographer: Gonzalo Galguera
Music includes Peter Ludwig Hertel
Dancers: 4 soloists + ensemble
Duration: 120 min
Der Zauberladen / Petruschka (Premiere 15.02.2020)
Choreographer: Gonzalo Galguera
Music by Ottorino Respighi after Rossini and I. Strawinsky
Tanzbegegnungen 9 (Premiere 25.04.2020)
Revivals
Diva (2018)
Choreographer: Gonzalo Galguera
Music: Thomas Duda
70 min
Der Nussknacker (2010)
Choreographer: Gonzalo Galguera
Music: P. I. Tschaikowsky
after E. T. A. Hoffmann
145 min
Touring program 2017/2018
Romeo und Julia
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera
Productions from the 2016/2017 season
Die Wahlverwandtschaften (2016)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera, music: Franz Schubert and Thomas Duda
22 dancers and 11 supernumeraries, stage 16 x 18 m, 135 min
Le Corsaire (2017)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera after Marius Petipa, music: Adolphe Adam, Cesare Pugni, Léo Delibes and others
approx. 30-35 dancers and supernumeraries, stage 16 x 18 m
Ein neuer Tanzabend (2017)
Choreography: Mauro Astolfi
approx. 11 dancers, stage 11,41 x 14m
Coppélia (2016)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera, music: Léo Delibes
31 dancers and 8 supernumeraries, stage 16 x 18 m, 135 min
Der Nussknacker (2010)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera, music: P. I. Tschaikowsky
22 dancers and 6 supernumeraries, stage 16 x 18 m, 145 min
Dornröschen (2015)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera, music: P. I. Tschaikowsky
29 dancers and 12 supernumeraries, stage 16 x 18 m, 150 min
Le Sacre du Printemps (2014)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera, music: I. Strawinsky, Arvo Pärt
22 dancers, stage 16 x 18 m, 120 min
Productions from the 2014/2015 season
Tanzbegegnungen 5 (2015)
Dornröschen (2015)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera, music: P. I. Tschaikowsky
22 dancers, stage 18 x 22 m, 150 min
Bluthochzeit/Lorca (2014)
Choreography: Antonio Gades, Gonzalo Galguera, music: Emilio de Diego, Perelló y Monreal, Felipe Campuzano and others
22 dancers, stage 18 x 22 m
Le Sacre du Printemps (2014)
Choreografie: Gonzalo Galguera, Musik: I. Strawinsky, Arvo Pärt
22 Tänzer/innen, Bühnenmaße 18 x 22 m, 120 min
Romeo und Julia (2013)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera, music: Sergej Prokofjew
22 dancers, stage 18 x 22 m, 150 min
Lina und das Traumfängerchen (2012)
Choreography: Olga Ilieva, music: Georges Bizet, Claude Debussy, Alberto Ginastera and others
2 dancers, 50 min
Der Nussknacker (2010)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera, music: P. I. Tschaikowsky
22 dancers, stage 18 x 22 m, 145 min
Productions from the 2013/2014 season
Tanzbegegnungen 4 (2014)
Choreography: Pablo Lastras Sanchez, Fredy Franzutti, music: Christoph Willibald Gluck, Niccolò Piccinni, Von Magnet and others
22 dancers
Le Sacre du Printemps (2014)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera, music: I. Strawinsky, Arvo Pärt
22 dancers, stage 18 x 22 m, 120 min
Tanzbegegnungen 3 (2013)
Choreography: Can Arslan, Olga Ilieva, music: A. Vivaldi, Steve Reich, Plasticman and others
22 dancers
La Sylphide (2013)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera, music: Herman Severin Løvenskiold, John Lanchbery
22 dancers, stage 18 x 22 m
Carmina Burana (2012)
Choreography: Gonzalo Galguera, music: George Gershwin, Maurice Ravels, Carl Orff
22 dancers
Was ihr wollt
Trailer
Schneewittchen
Trailer
Theater Magdeburg
Universitätsplatz 9
39104 Magdeburg
Telefon: (0391) 40 490 1111
E-Mail: info@theater-magdeburg.de