‘Constant dialogue and lively exchange’: Akris’ Albert Kriemler on two decades of collaboration with choreographer John Neumeier

’Ballet is a total work of art, a Gesamtkunstwerk,’ says Albert Kriemler, creative director of Swiss fashion label Akris. The German term, which rose to prominence in the late 19th century, refers to artworks that combine different mediums into a singular, coherent whole. For ballet, Kriemler lists choreography, lighting, set design, music and – as Kriemler is well-versed, having collaborated with Hamburg Ballet artistic director John Neumaeier for over 20 years – costumes.

The latest collaboration between Neumaier and Kriemler is ‘Epilogue’, which sees the designer create a series of costumes for what will be the American director and choreographer’s final work as artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet, which he has led for the past 51 years. A poignant musing on chamber music, it features works by Richard Strauss and Franz Schubert, as well as Simon & Garfunkel, for what the company calls ’an abstract ballet of quiet tones and subtle movements’. It has its premiered last month at the Hamburg State Opera, with further performances planned later in the year and in early 2025.

Akris’ Albert Krimeler on two decades of collaboration with John Neumeier 

Kriemler describes the process of working with Neumeier as one of ’constant dialogue and lively exchange’, with the designer often ’able to anticipate John’s thoughts’ having worked together for the past 20 years. ’It was clear with [this piece] that it would be autobiographical... that alongside his family, there would be five or six unique figures that have played a special role in his life,’ says Kriemler of ‘Epilogue’. ’John is really engaged – he appreciates that I take a theme and bring him ideas, rather than just designing to choreography.’

After the initial meeting, Kriemler will then come back with ’fabrics, volume studies, dresses’, which are then tested by the dancers in the Hamburg Ballet studio. Pieces will then be altered for each individual (for ‘Epilogue’, the character of Neumeier’s mother had her symbolic white dress hemmed and shortened) with ideas ’changed and discarded’ right up until the show’s premiere. ’It is actually quite similar to the preparations for our défilé [runway show] in Paris,’ he says.

Colour – a hallmark of Akris’ fashion collections, which often see Kriemler inspired by an artist or artistic movement – was particularly important to this piece. Here, Neumeier has asked Kriemler to look towards the colour palettes of early Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca. ‘Colours and fabrics are my passion,’ he says. ’The Renaissance has never been [a theme for my collections], but Della Francesca’s colour fascinated me, resulting in a completely new colour world. The male dancers, for example, wear the omnipresent rust red from his work as cotton stretch tops, [which are also] a reference to a T-shirt that John wore in his very first ballet.’

Elsewhere, ’greige’ linen suits take on what Kriemler describes as ’the morbid grey of a monk’s robe we found in a small altarpiece’, becoming one of the ballet’s key pieces. A ’light, structured knit dress’ worn by principal dancer Ida Praetorius to dance to Schubert’s piano sonata is called out by Kriemler as another, alongside ’tourmaline-green-blue’ organza dresses and crepe trousers in yellow georgette. ‘They fitted like a glove right for the beginning, and were just made for dancing.’

Of his personal love of ballet, Kriemler says he is ’less interested in how humans move on stage, but rather what moves them and how they find their own language in ballet – with images, movements, and moods.’ ’I believe this is also what connects John and me: his desire to perceive not merely dancers on stage, but individuals who dance, and my aspiration to see them in real, creative clothes rather than costumes,’ he continues. ’There is more to dancing beyond mere technique and classical discipline.’

’Epilogue: Ballet by John Neumeier’ premiered at Hamburg State Opera on 30 June, 2024. Further performances will take place from November 2024 to February 2025, with full details and tickets here.

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