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news in 2008
Staatstheater Kassel premieres Tanzabend II:
neue heimat
Johannes Wieland premiered a brand new work, neue
heimat on March 20, 2008 at Staatstheater Kassel,
Germany. neue heimat investigates the meaning of
“homeland” and personifies several emotional journeys
toward finding both reality and utopia. This highly
theatrical piece culminates itself with a simple message
thus bringing together those that might otherwise seem
worlds apart; “With it, we see breathtaking artistic
interludes by performers and Lillian Stillwell
introduces us to the philosophy of the stiletto
accompanied by appropriately wicked movements. A number
of further scenes show the playfully relaxed thinking of
the choreographer and at the same time, his high demand
for artistic perfection.”
news in 2007
Staatstheater Kassel premieres
portrait / le sacre du printemps
On October 20, 2007, Staatstheater Kassel inaugurated
its seasonal debut with Johannes Wieland's le sacre
du printemps.
Continuing his development on the signature New York
piece, tomorrow, Wieland again focused on the
exploration of familial themes; "Dance theater was
seldom more funny and engaging, never was splashing with
water more stylized." portrait began the evening
as a poignant work featuring seven soloists and music by
Philip Glass. The unadorned nature of portrait
juxtaposed the program’s counterpart thus creating a
captivating evening. The performance was accompanied by
Staatstheater Kassel's resident Orchestra and will
continue to be performed throughout the season.
johannes wieland attends The
Yard on Martha’s Vineyard
During the month of July, johannes wieland
attended the Company Residency at The Yard on Martha’s
Vineyard. Chosen through an extremely competitive
selection process, Johannes utilized the opportunity to
explore and create two new works under the mentorship of
Lucinda Childs and Linda Tarnay. The culmination of
three weeks introduced
le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring) which
premiered on October 20, 2007 at Staatstheater Kassel in
Kassel, Germany and newyou which is slated to
premiere during the Spring of 2008 in New York City.
Castor et Pollux
at L’Opera Francais de New York
Johannes returned from Europe in May of 2007 to begin
rehearsals for his first operatic staging and the U.S.
premiere of
Castor et Pollux conducted by Yves Abel at
L’Opera Francais de New York. With only ten days to
complete two hours of choreographic staging, Johannes
and two dancers worked extensively on what
Classicstoday.com hailed as "fine choreography - a
combination of classical ballet and gentle
expressionism."
news in 2006
A New Premiere and a European Tour
progressive coma premiered November 30 – December
3 at The Citigroup Theater at the Alvin Ailey Center for
Dance. The evening length version of the 2005 previewed
progressive coma utilized a combination of choreography, text and
media images and was chronicled by John Rockwell of The
New York Times; "There are agile, handsome dancers; a
clever use of video; and lots of sexy and provocative
and mysterious incidents." The premiere coincided with a
New York City festival celebrating German Culture and
appropriately, progressive coma slated its summer
European tour in Kassel, Germany. Continuing throughout
Poland, johannes wieland found itself leaving an
indelible mark on both sides of the ocean.
Wieland Appointed Artistic Director/Choreographer in
Kassel
In April 2006, the State Theater of Kassel, Germany,
appointed Johannes Wieland Artistic
Director/Choreographer of its resident dance company.
Wieland will officially assume this position in
September, although he will divide his time between
Kassel and New York City, where he will continue to
maintain his own company, johannes wieland. Wieland
comments, "I am very excited about this new endeavor,
and am looking forward to developing and exploring new
ideas with the company. I hope to retain the current
audience for dance in Kassel, and also work with the
Theater to attract new arts patrons." As Artistic
Director, Wieland will premiere works in annual fall and
spring seasons that will be accompanied by live music
from Kassel's resident orchestra.
news in 2005
New York Season at The Citigroup Theater
From November 17–19, 2005, johannes wieland presented an evening of four dances at The Citigroup Theater at the Alvin Ailey Center for Dance. The program encapsulated the company’s work from 2005, featuring
artificial, which premiered at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in August, and also looked forward to 2006 with a preview from
coma, Wieland’s newest project. The completed, evening-length version of
coma, which looks at the power of images in the media, will incorporate video projections and premiere in 2006 as part of a festival of German culture held in New York.
Wieland Invited Abroad as Guest Choreographer and Teacher
Following his company’s November season at The Citigroup Theater in New York, Wieland returned to Europe for a month filled with choreographic and teaching engagements. He spent an intense 2 weeks with AURA Dance Theatre in Kaunas, Lithuania, creating a new work for 6 dancers that will premiere in May 2006 at the New Baltic Contemporary Dance Festival in Vilnius. After Lithuania, Wieland went to Cologne, Germany, to teach ballet and contemporary dance classes for Amanda Miller’s company, pretty ugly tanz köln. He finished his time in Cologne with a composition workshop at the Hochschule für Musik Köln.
news in 2004
Fall Season at Diane von Furstenberg the Theatre
Designer Diane von Furstenberg opened the doors of her New York atelier to Johannes and his company this October, providing not only a beautiful performance space, but also original costumes. The program featured two premieres:
one, commissioned by PARADIGM, and corrosion, created in collaboration with Norwegian electronic composer/musician Espen Sommer Eide and supported by The Greenwall Foundation. The sculptural element of Johannes’ choreography was on full display in two pre-existing pieces—parietal region and
tomorrow—which were striking in the von Furstenberg space. It was a memorable season, and the critics thought so too: read a review >>
Johannes Wieland Wins 2004 Kurt Jooss Award
In June, shift, a duet Johannes created in 2002, won the 2004 Kurt Jooss Award for young choreographers in Essen, Germany. The competition drew applications from 100 choreographers in 14 countries, and judges Pina Bausch, Malou Airaudo, Josef Nadj, and Patricia Stöckemann named Johannes Wieland and labor G.RAS as joint winners. The company returned in October to participate in the awards performance, which was a shared program with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch.
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