Henrik Neubauer

 

 

Življenjepis

Bibliografija

 

Personal Resume

Bibliography

 

Born 17th April 1929 in Golnik

Opera director and choreographer, professor at University of Ljubljana, medical doctor, opera and dance historian

Languages: English, German, Russian, French, Italian

Employment History: 1946-1957 Dancer-Ballet Ljubljana, 1957-1961 Assistant-Institute of Social Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1960-1972 Director and Chief Choreographer-Slovene National Theatre, Ljubljana, 1972-1982 Director and Artistic Leader-Festival Ljubljana, 1984-1986 Artistic Director-Opera and Ballet Maribor, 1989-2002 Professor for Acting, Dance and Period movement at Singer's Department and Opera school of the Music Academy of the University Ljubljana. From 2007 until 2011 he was professor for Dance History, Character and historical dances and Choreography at the Higher Ballet School of the Conservatoire for Music and Ballet in Ljubljana, the establishment of which he had prepared from 1997 on.

International and domestic activities: Active within the ITI (International Theatre Institute-UNESCO) from 1973 on: Board member of the Music Theatre, Secretary of Dance Committee from 1979 to 1983, Technical advisor to the Executive Board from 1983 to 1985, President of Slovenian Centre of the ITI from 1992 to 2000. President of the Council of the 9th Slovenian Ballet Competition in 2009. From 2008 to 2010 a member of the Supervisory Board, since 2010 member of the Management Committee of the Glasbena matica Ljubjana.

Other activities: Active member of Dance Notation Bureau, New York, President of Association of Slovenian Concert Agencies, President of the Co-ordination Committee of Yugoslav Concert Agencies, Representative of Festival Ljubljana in the European Association of Music Festivals and in the Committee for Extra–European Arts, President of the Organising Committee of the 1st and 3rd and President of the Jury of the 7th Slovenian Ballet Competition, Member of different theatre and art committees, President of Slovenian Cycling Association, President of the Association of Ballet Artists of Slovenia, Member of the Advisory Council of the International Dance Alliance, NY, Founding Member of the Alliance of Dance Notation Educators, NY, President of the Association of Ballet Artists of Slovenia (1995 - 2001), President of the Slovenian Chamber Music Theatre ( 2002 – 2009).

Awards: 1970 Docteur Honoris Causa - L'Université de la Danse, Paris, 1964 prizes for ballet films "On tiptoe" and "Vision", 1978 First prize for directing "Carmen" - Yugoslav Opera Biennial, 1981 First prize for choreography "Romeo and Juliet" - Yugoslav Ballet Biennial, 1983 Honorary member of Dance Committee of the ITI, 1986 Special prize for direction of "King Lear" – Yugoslav Opera Biennial, 2001 Honorary President of the Association of Ballet Artists of Slovenia, 2003 Award of the Capital of Ljubljana, 2009 decoration by the President of the Republic of Slovenia with the Golden Order for Merit for his extraordinary work and services in cultural activities and his contribution to the cultural development of Slovenia. The same year he was in Istanbul by the Turkish premier minister Mr. Erdogan awarded the title "Distinguished Senior Citizen of the World 2009". At the World Theater Congress in Segovia in 2017 he was elected as honorary member of the International Theatre Institute. In 2019, he became Honorary member of Glasbena matica Ljubljana; in 2020, he was invited to become member of Slovenska matica.
He is the recipient of the Prešeren Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024.

Productions: Choreographed more than 80 ballets (Prokofiev: Peter and Wolf, Romeo and Juliet, Stone Flower, Classical Symphony, R. Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel, Auric: La Chambre, Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty, Caprice, Romeo and Juliet, Weill: Seven Deadly Sins, De Falla: El Amor Brujo, Françaix: Le Roi nu, Khachaturian: Spartacus, Blacher: Othello, Hamlet, Constant: Cyrano de Bergerac, Ravel: Bolero, Grieg: Peer Gynt, Lehar: The Merry Widow, Stravinsky: Firebird, Bliss: Checkmate and others), directed 13 French plays and  39 operas and operettas (Bizet: Carmen, Puccini: Tosca, Verdi: Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Mozart: Entführung, Figaro’s Hochzeit, La Finta Giardiniera, Der Schauspieldirektor, Gluck: Le Cinesi, Menotti: The Medium, The Consul, Donizetti: Rita, Rossini: La Cambiale di Matrimonio and others) in Slovenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ireland, Serbia, Slovakia. In 2018, he directed the first Slovenian opera »Belin« by Jakob Frančišek Zupan, dating from 1780; in 2019, he directed the symphonic poem »Barve zelenega smaragda« (Colours of the green emerald) by Avgust Ipavec.

Bibliography: He has written more than 40 books and 600 articles mostly in the fields of opera and ballet; his most important publicist and research work is "The development of ballet art in Slovenia" in two parts, apart from other works, listed in the bibliography.
Written articles for the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ballet, Ballet Encyclopedia (Moscow), Yugoslav Music Lexicon, Ballett (German Annuals), All about Ballet (Moscow), International Encyclopedia of Dance, World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre, Slovenian Encyclopedia, Knaurs Lexicon, Slovenian Theatre Lexicon, Slovenian Biographical Lexicon, Theatre Glossary, Terminological Dictionary of Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, The World of Theatre – ITI, The Great English – Slovenian Oxford and DZS Dictionary etc.
Different articles (over 500) on opera and ballet, about singers, dancers, composers, international theatre seminars, ballet and music theatre history and editorials in Slovenian and foreign newspapers and magazines. Editor of the Playbill of Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, of the ITI publications Slovenian Theatre 1993 and 1994 and different other publications.

Lectured in USA (Brandeis University, U.C.L.A., University of Dallas, University of Illinois, Ballet Guild of Chicago), Finland (Savonlinna), Germany (Cologne, Munich, Essen), Austria (Vienna, Wolfsegg), Hungary, Belgium, France (Cabourg), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia (Opatija, Grožnjan) and Slovenia. In 2001 and 2005 lectured as guest professor for Historical Dances at Hochschule für Schauspielkunst “Ernst Busch”, Berlin. In 2004 lectured at the Seminar on Labanotation in Ljubljana, as well as on Historical Dances in Olimje. Guest professor for Choreography (2004 and 2008) and for Ballet History (2009) at the International Ballet Seminar in Wolfsegg, Austria. In October 2009 participated at the International Congress of the Distinguished Citizens of the World in Istanbul, Turkey with the essay on the topic ''Bridging the Gap between Cultures''.