Twenty years after their first collaboration for the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert Ballet, Akris’ creative director Albert Kriemler and choreographer John Neumeier have teamed up again. The ballet film will air during the intermission of the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert, which is broadcast in 92 countries and attracts an audience of approximately 50 million people. This year’s guest conductor for the classical music concert will be Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who helms the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
In a recent interview, Kriemler discussed first speaking with Neumeier about joining forces years ago. Kriemler recalled telling him, ‘I have no idea if I can do this, but I would be curious to find out what he is expecting from me.”
Designing for dancers was not such a stretch for Kriemler, whose collections at Akris are first and foremost “purely functional and are designed to create comfort and ease for the women wearing them,” he said.
That led to a trip to Hamburg, Germany, where Neumeier was director and chief choreographer of the Hamburg Ballet at that time. Their creative synchronicity has continued through the years. Praising Neumeier’s multidisciplinary talents including set design, Kriemler said, “And John draws even better than me. He doesn’t need a costume designer to work with, but he collaborated with me. But I brought him other clothes than ballet clothes.”
Essentially the designer is “doing Akris for the stage,” he said. “I always want to work with my fabrics, because I know what I like.”
Wearing Kriemler-designed gowns and suits, 12 dancers from the Vienna State Ballet will perform the waltz “Roses From the South” and the “Diplomats’ Polka” from Johann Strauss II. As part of what is a coproduction between the Austrian Broadcasting Corp., which is known as ORF, and the Vienna Philharmonic, the ballet unfolds against two Viennese backdrops. The Museum of Applied Arts is the setting for the waltz, and the grandeur of the Hofburg Palace is the scene for the polka.
The ballet film is expected to be viewed by an audience of approximately 50 million people.
Photo Courtesy ORF
Noting how Neumeier always brings humor to his Johann Strauss productions, Kriemler said a motif of roses was used for the dresses that dancers wore for “Roses From the South,” and women’s pantsuits — which are somewhat of a rarity for Kriemler — are featured in the “Diplomats’ Polka.” The suits are in his signature double-face wool and are paired with stretch jersey tank tops in colors like pink, crimson, taupe, sand, blush and ecru.
To ensure agility, the dresses are made of an airy silk georgette in deceptively sleek silhouettes for a refined contrast. The garments have pleated panels and side slits so that the dancers can move fluidly. The designer takes into consideration the dancers’ movements and even their hair color. He recalled a high compliment from a dancer, who raved about how they all “love” to wear his clothes for being “the most comfortable clothes that we have ever had. And also they are beautiful.”
The performers also appreciate the fact that they are not heavy, nor do they require any tape, which is typically needed for the costumes that they wear to perform in. Kriemler said that he explained to them, “‘No, my clothes should fit.’”
He and Neumeier have teamed up for such other performances as “Beethoven Project II” in 2021, “Turangalîla” in 2016, and “Josephs Legende/Verklungene Feste” in Hamburg in 2008 and in Vienna in 2015. Most recently, the pair joined forces at the Hamburg Ballet on “Epilogue,” Neumeier’s 173rd work, which premiered on June 30, 2024, and wrapped up his 51-year run at the Hamburg Ballet.
Kriemler said his brother Peter routinely tells him that he should do a collection that is inspired by his “ballet clothes,” which is under consideration. Describing working together as “so wonderful,” Kriemler, whose tenure at the independent Swiss company started at the age of 20, said he was the luckiest person in the world, since they have worked together for a few decades. In 1987, Peter joined the company that his grandmother Alice Kriemler-Schoch founded. Based in St. Gallen, Switzerland, one of the textiles capitals of the world, the town has a rich history in embroidery and many residents have become extended family members so to speak.
John Neumeier and Akris’ Albert Kriemler
Photo Courtesy
Kriemler was recently impressed by another talent, artist Imi Knoebel, whose exhibition he saw at the Galerie Bärbara Grässlin in Frankfurt. The duo collaborated a few years ago. But his next collection is inspired by another artist’s lifetime of work, which he declined to reveal just yet. Looking ahead, Akris will be relocating its Bal Harbour, Fla., store in the first quarter of the year.
