Enjoy the moment

It was not a difficult time, but above all an interesting and challenging one. Overall, everything is developing in a direction that I am very happy with. The reactions are positive and the atmosphere in the school is harmonious and good. I get a lot of support from the administrative team and the teachers. That helps enormously. My aim is to develop a certain self-image for the art and training of ballet. We are a professional ballet school and not just a leisure activity. For me, the focus is always on the thought: what can I do to prepare the students for a professional career in the best possible way?

My aim is to accompany the students over several years and see them develop into future dancers and artists. In the long term, I want the Ballet Academy to produce dancers who can work at major houses such as the Vienna State Opera. At the same time, it is clear that there will never be enough contracts for an entire year at the Vienna State Ballet, and sometimes perhaps none at all. It is therefore important to train the students so that they can audition for major companies worldwide.

At the matinee, the program must always be geared towards the students. It's about showing what they have worked on over the course of the year. At the same time, it's an important experience - after all, many of them don't yet regularly perform on such a large stage. The challenge is that there is only one performance. Ideally, we would have several dates to give everyone an equal chance. Nevertheless, everyone will perform: we will start with a presentation by the whole school, then the youth company will show a piece, and finally there will be an excerpt from Coppélia. It is also important to me to challenge the pupils without overtaxing them. They have a lot of pressure anyway. The matinee should be a positive experience - a moment they can enjoy.

We start with a presentation of all training levels. Inspired by Vienna, I work with music by Johann Strauss. The students from level 1 to level 8 show short variations and exercises. At the end, the entire ballet academy performs together on stage. In this way, the technical development across the different levels becomes visible - a kind of living snapshot of the training.

It is an adaptation of a piece that was originally created for the San Francisco Ballet. Jorma Elo has rehearsed and partially adapted it for the dancers of the youth company. His style is very direct and powerful, technically demanding and precise. It is a great opportunity for the young dancers to work with a contemporary choreographer and develop their artistic skills.

We are showing the third act based on Arthur Saint-Léon's ballet version. We were very lucky to be able to work with the internationally renownedformer ballet director and teacher Maina Gielgud. She is currently concentrating mainly on coaching and stylistics, and that was incredibly valuable for us. Among other things, she worked on the Dance of the Hours and the Dance of Dawn with the students. The stylistic work was particularly exciting: Coppélia is a ballet from the 19th century, and conveying this specific aesthetic was very enriching for the students.

The students should be proud of what they have achieved. It is their stage, their performance.