Bayerisches Junior Ballett München

Philosophy

Sixteen promising young dancers between the ages of 17 and 21 are given the opportunity to gain professional experience on stage for two years as members of the Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich.

2024/25

Ensemble

Mallika Aithala

Simon Adamson-De Luca

Pablo Armenteros García

Harry Ashton-Ireland

Joe Bratko-Dickson

Denisa Bzhetaj

Vera Cortell

Naia Dobrota

Parker Gamble

Arturo Lizana García

Lars Philipp Gramlich

Robyn Hodges

Ayesha Lucido

Rebecca Rudolf

Elzė Sadauskaitė

Mark Sims

Megan Wefel

Audition
Auditions for the 2025/26 Season will open on 1st December 2024! 
Auditions for the 2025/26 Season will open on 1st December 2024! 
Auditions for the 2025/26 Season will open on 1st December 2024! 
Auditions for the 2025/26 Season will open on 1st December 2024! 

Touring

As a cultural ambassador of the Free State of Bavaria and the City of Munich, the ensemble has performed all over Germany, as well as in Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Israel and Hong Kong to great success.

Show Calendar

Repertoire

Humour and wit, elegance and simplicity, sophistication and joy – the Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich reaches a broad audience with its varied programmes of high-quality dance pieces. At each of their performances they perform a selection of pieces that is carefully chosen from their extensive repertoire of canonical and internationally acclaimed classical, neo-classical and contemporary works to ensure that the audience experiences an unforgettable evening of dance. A wonderful introduction to the art of dance!

Premiere from Marco Goecke
Piece in an old style
Return to Innocence
Songs of a Wayfarer
All Long Dem Day
Ballet 102
Love Messages
3/4 Preludes
The Triadic Ballet
Pictures at an Exhibition
Bach-Suite 3
Night on Bald Mountain
In the Forest

Kooperationspartner

Das Bayerische Junior Ballett München (BJBM) wurde 2010 als erste und größte Junior Company in Deutschland gegründet und ist eine innovative Partnerschaft zwischen den bedeutendsten Tanz-Institutionen Münchens: dem Bayerischen Staatsballett, der Ballett-Akademie der Hochschule für Musik und Theater München und der Heinz-Bosl-Stiftung.

Artistic Direction & Team

Ivan Liška

Künstlerischer Leiter

Olivier Vercoutere

Proben- und Trainingsleiter

Our Ambassador

Supporting the Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich is a cause very close to the heart of our ambassador Irène Lejeune.

She has been involved with ballet for many years, while also running her own foundation “Herz für Herz – Stiftung für Leben”. From 2009 she was a patron of the Bavarian State Ballet under the directorship of Ivan Liška for many years, and since 2016 she has been collaborating with the Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich. Her commitment allows us to build a broad and varied repertoire. Her great love of dance, her determination and her loyalty are what make Irène Lejeune, our generous ambassador, so special.

ONSTAGE

ON STAGE WITH THE BAVARIAN STATE BALLET

The dancers of the ensemble gain experience on stage by regularly participating in performances by the Bavarian State Ballet at the Nationaltheater Munich.

In the 2023/24 season they WILL APPEAR In the following ballets:

Pina Bauschs »Das Frühlingsopfer«
John Crankos »Romeo und Julia«
Pierre Lacottes »La Sylphide«
Peter Wrights »Giselle«
John Neumeiers »Illusions – Like Swan Lake«

Studio

A bonbon...? - Rehearsals for Lior Tavoris new creation

A special highlight awaits the audiences of the autumn matinees 2022: the Heinz-Bosl-Foundation has commissioned a new score for Lior Tavori's new creation «bonbon». The Israeli composer Itamar Gross has written a piece that musically expresses the artistic work of the choreographer Lior Tavori with our dancers. In doing so, Lior Tavori explores the tensions between folk dance and contemporary dance and draws on his early experiences in Israeli folk dance.

Portrait

A Day in the Life of the Juniors

Former Ensemble member Phoebe Schembri explains what her daily schedule with the Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich looks like: from waking up in the Heinz-Bosl-Foundation’s boarding house to daily training and rehearsals. Originally filmed for our Digital Season in 2020, today Phoebe is a corps-de-ballet member of the Bavarian State Ballet.

Portrait

Stories of Empowerment: 10 Year of the Juniors

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich in 2020, we invited talented young videographers from Rue Nouvelle & Studio CNP to travel across Europe and create portraits of some of our former ensemble members. However, Covid-19’s restrictions meant the team were no longer able to travel and were forced to rethink the idea. What emerged was a concept where each of the dancers filmed themselves. A detailed plan was created and the team sent out two video kits containing the equipment along with instructions on how to use it. These kits travelled from one city to another and each of the scenes were filmed within a period of one month. Connecting the dancers’ unique personalities across different locations and scenarios, they filmed themselves responding to a series of questions through improvised movement creating an installation-like film that expresses the role that dance plays in their lives today.

Studio

Quicksilver footwork and a generous upper body

«Allegro Brillante» marks a return to Balanchine's origins and retrospectively becomes a celebration of his training at Saint Petersburg’s Imperial Ballet School and his time with the Mariinsky Ballet. Balanchine's masterpiece entered the repertoire of the Bayerisches Junior Ballet München in 2012 and has become a calling card for the different generations of ensemble members since. Ahead of the Autumn-Matinee performances in 2022 dancers of the Bayerisches Junior Ballett München have been working with ballet master Olivier Vercoutere to refine the choreographic and stylistic qualities synonymous with Balanchine's work.

Essay

Why we love dance

Right now, we have to do without. We are without art, without culture, without dance. The theatres have been closed for weeks. Creative practitioners and art lovers are falling on hard times, not just financially, but mentally and emotionally, too. Why do we need cultural input? Why do we need our theatres?

Essay

Abstrakte Sensibilität: 100 Jahre Triadisches Ballett. 1922-2022

„Zeichen unserer Zeit ist die Abstraktion […]. Zeichen unserer Zeit sind die neuen Möglichkeiten, gegeben durch Technik und Erfindung, die völlig neue Voraussetzungen schaffen und die Verwirklichung der kühnsten Phantasien erlauben oder hoffen lassen. Die Bühne, die Zeitbild sein sollte und besonders zeitbedingte Kunst ist, darf an diesen Zeichen nicht vorübergehen.“ – Oskar Schlemmer

Interview

Choreography is never a one-way street: A conversation with Jörg Mannes

Jörg Mannes was born in Vienna in 1969. Between the years 2006 and 2019 Jörg was the Ballet Director and Chief Choreographer of the State Theatre in Hannover. During this time he created individual 38 ballets, mostly full-length evenings for up to 30 dancers, which played to almost consistently sold-out audiences. Munich’s audiences may already be familiar to Jörg’s choreography through his creations «Der Sturm» (The Tempest) and «Wohin er auch blickt» (Wherever he looks) for the Bavarian State Ballet in 2007 and 2010 respectively. The following interview took place in the middle of March via video call.

Studio

A Group piece to showcase the ensemble's talents

Following the success of his 2018 creation «Stimmenstrahl Trio», in 2022 Maged Mohamed returned to reinterpret Aaron Copland's famous ballet score «Appalachian Spring». With its accentuated dances and idyllic interludes that fade into nocturnal slumber, «Appalachian Spring» is an inspiring musical springboard to showcase the diversity of the current generation of the junior company.

Essay

„Welcome to professional life“: Von der Verantwortung des Zuschauers

Als sich der Vorhang in Villingen-Schwenningen für die jungen Tänzerinnen und Tänzer des Bayerischen Junior Ballett München öffnet, liegen drei Wochen intensiven Probens hinter ihnen – ein fast zweistündiges Programm musste in dieser kurzen Zeit einstudiert werden.

Ballet and Wilderness

Pas de deux with a sycamore maple

"Less aesthetic and more natural please." These were choreographer Martina La Ragione's instructions to the dancers at a gathering of spectators interested in sharing the development of her project in June 2019. And when the command "break up the lines again" was given, the artists of the Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich knew immediately what was meant.

Interview

When beginnings flow: the remarkable TANZLAND cooperation.

The Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich (BJBM) and the City of Villingen-Schwenningen have been building a close partnership over the last three seasons. The company visited the city on four occasions between Spring 2018 and Autumn 2020, performing four different programmes. In addition, there have been many workshops and participatory projects. The collaboration is one of thirteen projects in Germany funded through the TANZLAND programme, which aims to bring contemporary dance to regional audiences who do not have easy access to big cities or cultural centres. The TANZLAND fund for touring partnerships was initiated by the German Federal Cultural Foundation and is managed by the Umbrella Association for Dance in Germany, the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland e.V.. It funds collaboration between dance companies and theatres or venues that do not have their own dance ensembles (“INTHEGA venues” in German).

Portrait

"Don’t be afraid to be ugly!"

Created for the 2019 Autumn Matinees, celebrated British choreographer Caroline Finn talks about «When she knew» and the physical authenticity that emerges from the vulnerability of the human condition. Set to Jordi Savall’s hauntingly beautiful interpretations of renaissance music and a countertenor aria from Antonio Vivaldi, this portrait was created ahead of the Heinz-Bosl-Foundation's Digital Season in 2020.

Essay

Wenn junge Künstler nach dem Licht suchen

Wie ein Funke springt die jugendliche Frische und Freude im Nationaltheater von der Bühne in den Zuschauerraum. Berührend sind die jungen Tänzerinnen und Tänzer, die ihr Talent mit uns teilen.

Essay

Jung unter Jungen: Ivan Liška und das Bayerische Junior Ballett München

Von Berlin aus gesehen, ist Bayern ein gesegnetes Land. Zumindest jenseits politischer Stammtische. Die Landschaft ist göttlich, die Städte sind schön, Tradition wird groß geschrieben, Innovation mit Volldampf betrieben. Das zieht natürlich auch Künstler an, die hier Gelegenheit (samt Geld und Gönnern) finden, das umzusetzen, wovon sie träumen. Ein solcher Freigeist ist Ivan Liška.

Portrait

Interpreting Beethoven's mystery for the stage

Renowned dance film director Benedict Mirow spoke with Jörg Mannes ahead of his 2020 creation «Immortal Beloved». Originally intended to be performed as part of the global Beethoven 250 celebrations, Mannes' ballet to Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto was first performed as part of the Bavarian State Opera's "Mondaypieces - Live Stream Series" following repeated cancellations due to theatre closures during the pandemic.

Trailer

Explosive movement fragments from the studio

Created for the State Ballet School of Berlin in 2015, «All Long Dem Day» finds a perfect partner in crime with Nina Simone’s 1956 rendition of «Sinnerman». Originally a traditional African American spiritual song inspired by the book of Exodus, the lyrics describe a sinner attempting to hide from divine justice on Judgement Day. Simone often chose the song to close her early appearances in New York City’s Greenwich Village: “I want to shake people up so bad that when they leave a nightclub where I’ve performed, I want them to be in pieces.” Pairing Simone’s cries for forgiveness from transgression with Goecke’s explosive movement fragments, the relentlessness of «All Long Dem Day» reminds us that change is not only important but necessary to repair the social, moral and political ties that wither with the passage of time.

Trailer

Choreographic jewel as a dance prelude

As a dance prelude for our upcoming performances of «Das Triadische Ballett» in Munich's Prinzregententheater, the Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich will present Hans van Manen’s «Concertante» set to the music of Frank Martin. At their core, Hans van Manen’s ballets are about the complexities of human relationships. His unique and immediately recognisable choreographic language highlights the subtleties that all too often go unnoticed in daily life. His ballets typically show dancers in postures of an almost electrically charged physicality, which celebrate the strengths of their individuality. Originally created for the young ensemble of the Netherlands Dance Theatre II in 1994, «Concertante» has lost none of its original charm. The timeless beauty of its group sections, trios and duets and the shimmering iconic unitards designed by van Manen’s longtime collaborator Keso Dekker continue to thrill audiences to this day.

Essay

Rückkehr in kein fremdes Land

„Während meiner vielen Besuche beim Bayerischen Staatsballett konnte ich mich nie dem mächtigen Eindruck des Nationaltheaters entziehen, einem Gebäude, das eng mit München verbunden ist. Es ist das unruhige Herz dieser Stadt.“ – Jiří Kylián, 2008 

Essay

As free and as wild as possible

Marco Goecke created «All Long Dem Day» 2015 for the Berlin State Ballet School. He was only commissioned for a two-person piece, but then decided to work with a whole group of students. Marco Goecke explains the fact that his choreographic language has been included in the repertoire of classical ballet schools over the past thirty years with the intention of opening up these these institutions to experience other styles and themes : “The good dancers of today have to be able to dance everything. The profession of dancer would not make sense if you did what you already knew you could do each day.”

Portrait

Nothing short of miraculous

We are overjoyed at the great popularity and success of our performances of «The Triadic Ballet» in the Prinzregententheatre at the beginning of June. Due to a great demand and three sold-out performances, at short notice we decided to organise an additional performance. Thanks to the great support of everyone involved from the Prinzregententheatre, the Bavarian State Opera and the Central Ticket Office, we were able to realise the performance within three days and managed to sell 80% of the tickets. What a success for the young dancers! These four performances in three days allowed them to experience the demands of an ongoing performance rhythm and where they deepened their technique in «Concertante», they were able to develop artistically in «Triadic Ballet». We are deeply grateful to everyone involved who supported us in bringing this season to such a successful conclusion!

News

On Tour with the Juniors

To finish the calendar year the juniors are travelling on 1st December to our former “Tanzland” partner city Villingen-Schwenningen to present the program »Liebesleid und Liebesfreud« at the Theater am Ring.

Trailer

Bach-Suite 3 from the studio

Since the beginning of January, the dancers of the Junior Company have been working intensively on John Neumeier's "Bach Suite 3". The ballet, which was created in 1981 for the opening of the Hamburg Operettenhaus, represents a time in which Neumeier worked intensively with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Since its premiere in Hamburg, the work has also been danced by the Deutsche Oper Ballet, the Zurich Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet and the Vienna State Ballet. By including the piece in the BJBM's repertoire in the 2023/24 season, Ivan Liška is honouring the choreographer John Neumeier, who is now celebrating his last season after 51 years at the helm of the Hamburg Ballet.

News

Blind dates of a different kind: Photoessay from dancer Ayesha Lucido

The new year brings with it new opportunities and in late January, ten of our junior company members travelled to Stuttgart to begin working with Eric Gauthier on his upcoming creation for our Spring Matinee series. For a week, Theaterhaus Stuttgart became their temporary home and the ballet studio a witness for a birth of a different kind.

Essay

The Perceived World – John Neumeier, a Portrait from Munich

"John is like a catalyst. My career, not only as a dancer, has a lot, has everything to do with him. We met in 1977. Ever since, it has been an exploration of his world of ideas, movements, struggles, and ideals - in the ballet studio, on stage, and on the road." – Ivan Liška

News

Seeing the world through the lens of our dancers

What would it look like to experience the junior company from the perspective of our dancers directly? This is a question that prompted us to engage dancer Ayesha Lucido to leverage her experience from inside the company directly.

Essay

Danced Devotion: A Night on the Bald Mountain

Energetic music, passion, drama, ferocity, unbridled energy and a great deal of storytelling through music. This is how one could succinctly describe Modest Mussorgsky's composition "A Night on the Bald Mountain."

Studio

Impressions from the Ballet Studio

The title of our main touring program this year is «Love Messages» and the title directly relates to Ivan Liška, Norbert Graf and Maged Mohamed’s ballet of the same name. Originally created in 2022, it was one of the first ballets that was staged for our new ensemble this season.

Trailer

Living Sculptures in Munich

Last week the juniors performed at the official opening of Luca Pignatelli’s “Muse” Ausstellung in Munich’s Glyptothek. With a star studded assembly of invited guests, we performed excerpts from our production of «Pictures at an Exhibition» to great resonance! See for yourself in our impressions trailer from the performance.

Studio

Every detail scrutinised, every intention considered…

Behind every stage performance lay hours of tireless and dedicated hours of work by dancers and repetiteurs in the ballet studio. Ahead of our upcoming Spring Matinees, dance photographer Marie-Laure Briane has captured snapshots in time of the Ballett-Akademie and Bayerisches Junior Ballett München long and exciting journey to the stage.

Essay

Die Entstehung einer neuen Kreation. Eine Reise.

Als Peter Leung im Januar diesen Jahres nach München kam, um mit dem Bayerischen Junior Ballett München ein neues Stück aus dem Nichts zu kreieren, ahnten die jungen Tänzerinnen und Tänzern wohl kaum, dass es eine Reise werden würde, die sie in ihrem ganzen Wesen fordern sollte. Eine Reise, die sie an ihre Grenzen und darüber hinaus führen würde.

Music

Maskenspiele der Vergänglichkeit: Jiří Kyliáns »Un Ballo« nach der Musik von Maurice Ravel

»Ich habe nie die Notwendigkeit verspürt, meine ästhetischen Grundsätze zu formulieren, weder für andere noch für mich«, bekannte Maurice Ravel in den Lettres, die 1956 posthum in der Revue de Musicologique veröffentlicht wurden.

Essay

UnHeaven – Dem Prozess vertrauen

Federn. Weiße Federn auf dem Bühnenboden. Weiße Federn in der Luft – aufgewirbelt durch die Bewegungen der Tänzerinnen und Tänzer. Federn-Straßen und Federn-Kreise. «UnHeaven» von Martina La Ragione besticht durch ein Meer aus Federn als Bühnenbild.

Interview

Von der Kunst der Vielfalt: Drei Frauen. Ein Gespräch

Deike Wilhelm: Seit 2012 begleite ich die jungen Tänzerinnen und Tänzer des Bayerischen Junior Ballett München als Inspizientin auf allen Gastspielen. Ich bin für den Ablauf der Vorstellungen hinter der Bühne verantwortlich. Vor und während der Vorstellung rufe ich alle Beteiligten – Künstler und Kollegen der Technik – rechtzeitig zu ihren Einsätzen, gebe alle Musik- und Lichteinsätze, sage Vorhänge und Bühnen-Verwandlungen an. Es ist ein Wirken zwischen Kunst und Technik, das besonders erfüllend ist, wenn ich den Fluß der Vorstellung fühle und durch mein eigenes Zeitgefühl mit gestalte. Da ich die neuen Kreationen meist als fertige Werke kennen lerne, interessiert mich der Blick hinter die Kulissen und ganz besonders die Sichtweise der Choreografinnen und Choreografen. Ich hatte die Gelegenheit mit den Choreografinnen der neuen Stücke zu sprechen. Das Gespräch mit Caroline Finn führte ich per Video-Skype. Mit Maria Barrios konnte ich in München persönlich sprechen.

Essay

Wir sind Tanz

Tanzen verbindet. Tanz ist Kommunikation. Tanz ist Berührung. Tanz ist Gemeinschaft. Nach zwei Jahren Pandemie – nach Abstandsgeboten und Social Distancing – ist unsere Sehnsucht nach Begegnung, nach Gemeinschaft, nach Berührung groß. Wir sind soziale Wesen, wir brauchen einander, wir brauchen Gesellschaft und Räume, in denen wir uns begegnen können. Solch ein Raum ist das Theater.

TOURING AGENT

We are represented by the booking agent KONZERTDIREKTION LANDGRAF for all our tours in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. If you are interested in presenting the Bavarian Junior Ballet Munich, please get in contact with us!

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