The end of John Neumeier's last season after 51 years as Chief Choreographer and Ballet Director was also accompanied by some moving farewells.
At the Nijinsky Gala XLIX, Principal dancer Karen Azatyan left the company to continue his career with the Zurich Ballet. Among the numerous roles in the 10 years of his career at the Hamburg Ballet, his striking interpretations of The Seducer (Gabriele d'Annunzio) in "Duse", A Muschik in "Anna Karenina" and Edward Rochester in "Jane Eyre" remain unforgotten.
Long-standing soloists Yun-Su Park and Lizhong Wang are also ending their stage careers after 17 and 13 years respectively. Yun-Su Park last impressed as The Sea in "Odyssey" and Lizhong Wang as A Wise Man in "Christmas Oratorio I-VI".
There were also some farewells in the ranks of the corps de ballet: After 15 years in the ensemble and a wide-ranging repertoire, Priscilla Tselikova is now dedicating herself to new tasks. Eliot Worrell also ended his twelve-year dance career and will take on the position of a ballet stage manager. Nicolas Gläsmann, with several solo roles in his repertoire during his nine-year membership, will work as a freelance dancer from now on. Carolin Inhoffen will be reorienting herself as a physiotherapist, while her colleagues Lasse Caballero and Pablo Polo moved to the Karlsruhe State Ballet and Alfie McPherson to BallettVorpommern. Finally, aspirants Kallum Morris and Tibor Perthel joined the Belgrade Ballet and Cottbus Ballet.
The Hamburg Ballet wishes them all the best for the future.
