Albert Kriemler from Akris designs ballet costumes for John Neumeier

Albert Kriemler has dressed the dancers performing in the ballet “Epilog” at the Hamburg State Opera, according to a press release. Kriemler is the Creative Director of the St.Gallen-based fashion house Akris.

“Epilog” is the 173rd work by John Neumeier. With its premiere on June 30, 2024, Neumeier brought his 51-year career as Director and Chief Choreographer of the Hamburg Ballet to a close. At the same time, this “rather abstract ballet of quiet tones and subtle movements” with music by Franz Schubert, Richard Strauss and Simon & Garfunkel opened the 49th Hamburg Ballet Days.

Akris says that Kriemler made the musical colors visible in the costumes. For example, the “intoxicating experience of light” is reflected in the flowing, butter-yellow crêpe georgette pants worn by the female dancers. For “The Sound of Silence” by the American folk music duo Simon & Garfunkel, which thematically addresses the loneliness of modern man, the designer opted for greige men’s suits in the style of 1940s film noir.

As a long-time creative partner to the world’s longest-serving ballet director, Kriemler has collaborated with Neumeier on ballet projects for nearly 20 years. “With John, every get-together is a step forward”, Kriemler comments. “My driving passion for ,Epilog' is to tell the story of modern timelessness in the here and now, which I strive to bring to life in all my designs”.

According to Neumeier, across all of their joint projects, Kriemler did not actually create costumes, “but rather clothes for dancers. This ‘humanization’ of theatrical wardrobe is precisely in line with my desire not to see dancers on stage in the first place, but rather people who dance”. ce/mm