news in 2009

newyou travels and … und raus bist du! premieres
As a 2009 recipient of The William J. Copper Foundation, johannes wieland traveled to Swarthmore College to offer free open classes, lectures, and a performance of its critically acclaimed production, newyou. Cited as one of the company’s most successful national touring engagements, the company returned to New York and Johannes returned to Germany to complete his newest production which premiered March 20, 2009 at Staatstheater Kassel, … und raus bist du! The production incorporated music from Bert Kaempfert and live sound from Düsseldorf based DJ Christian Düchtel; “This is the dilemma of modern people, at which Wieland takes aim. Better, preciser, more exact than ever before,” Juliane Sattler, HNA

news in 2008

four productions in two countries in five months
Throughout the Fall, newyou enjoyed runs at several festivals in New York: the Hot! Festival at Dixon Place, the Dumbo Dance Festival Gala, and the Wave Rising Series. Lead performer Eva Mohn received “Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer” in the Dance Europe Critics Survey 07-08 for her performance in newyou. An excerpt of a new work, interview, was showcased at dancenowNYC at DTW and gave audience members a glimpse of the conflicts scheduled to premiere in 2010. In Kassel, Germany, Johannes Wieland premiered selbstauslöser with a company of nine performers exploring the quest for self identity, its secrets and lies; “Above all, it is full of ideas,” Matthias Lohr, HNA. Heading to New York soon after the German premiere, Johannes created because there isn’t any for the New Dances/Edition 2008 at The Juilliard School; “…the abrupt bodily arcs and squiggles were intrinsically musical and fascinatingly complex,” Roslyn Sulcas, The New York Times.

johannes wieland premieres and tours newyou
Exploring happiness and its associated realms of deceit, Johannes
Wieland and his company of five dancers premiered newyou at The Ailey
Citigroup Theater on June 5-8, 2008. Billed as tanztheater, this
multi-disciplinary work opened with positive reviews; “Wieland examines
events that throb with covert passion and violence - cleansing,
dissecting, and re-stitching them together as deftly as a surgeon
wielding scalpel and needle.” Following the New York premiere, newyou
embarked upon its summer European tour throughout Germany and Poland, visiting some familiar places and bringing with it, stark revelations.
 

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 Prize
In June, shift, a duet Johannes created in 2002, won the 2004 Kurt Jooss Prize 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.