FRIEDEMANN VOGEL  Principal Dancer 

Friedemann Vogel Photo (c)Youn Sik Kim

Friedemann Vogel was born in Stuttgart (Germany), and completed his ballet training at the Princess Grace Academy of Classical Dance in Monte Carlo with the John Gilpin Scholarship from Princess Antoniette de Monaco. He showed his outstanding talent by winning several international ballet competition awards.  In 1997, he won the Prix de Lausanne, the Gold medal in the Prix de Luxembourg, the Eurocity Competition in Italy, and in 1998, he won the Jackson Competition USA.

In September 1998, Friedemann joined the Stuttgart Ballet and quickly rose through the ranks. In 2002,  he was promoted to first soloist, the company's highest rank. In the same year, he also won the much-coveted Erik Bruhn Prize in Toronto Canada. Friedemann has been elected “Dancer of the Year” twice by the international dance critics survey of the magazine TANZ, for 2010 and again for 2019. In June 2011, Friedemann was appointed by the Italian dance magazine Danza&Danza as “Best Male Dancer”. His repertory includes title roles in the classics, as well as principal roles in pieces by Choreographers ranging from Cranko and Balanchine to Robbins and Kylián, from Neumeier to Forsythe and McGregor.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2021, Friedemann tried his hand at choreography for the first time, and co-created a short solo “Not in my hands” with visual artist and choreographer Thomas Lempertz. In February 2024, they premiered their first full-length co-creation “Die Seele am Faden/Soul Threads” at the Kleist Forum in Frankfurt (Oder), before touring the work to the Spoleto Festival in Italy in July.

Friedemann has been invited to dance as a guest artist by the most esteemed companies like the Mariinsky Theater St.Petersburg, the Bolshoi Ballet Theatre Moscow, Teatro alla Scala Milano, the English National Ballet, the National Ballet of China, the Tokyo Ballet, the Hong Kong Ballet, Ballets de Santiago de Chile, the Finnish National Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin and the Bayerisches Staatsballett, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Royal Swedish Ballet, the Vienna State Ballet, the Korean National Ballet and the Béjart Ballet Lausanne. 

In September 2015, he was awarded the national title of "Kammertänzer" – the highest honour for dancers in Germany. In 2016, he received the "Prix MAYA". In October 2020, he received the “Outstanding Performer” award at the German Dance Prize. In 2021, Friedemann Vogel was selected to be the Ambassador for International Dance Day to write the official message by the International Theatre Institute, under the patronage of UNESCO. In 2024, on the occasion of his 25th anniversary celebration at the Stuttgart Ballet, he was awarded the prestigious John Cranko Prize, in recognition of his contribution to promoting the late choreographer’s work.

 

 

 

Leading roles

  • Afternoon of a Faun (Jerome Robbins)

  • Apollo (George Balanchine): Apollo

  • Ballet Imperial (George Balanchine): leading role

  • Bella Figura (Jiří Kylián) : Pas de deux

  • Bolero (Maurice Béjart): male leading role

  • Brouillards (John Cranko) : Bruyère

  • Dances at a Gathering (Jerome Robbins): Role in Green

  • Diamonds (George Balanchine): leading role

  • Edward II (David Bintley): Edward II

  • Forgotten Land (Jiří Kylián): White

  • Fratres (John Neumeier)

  • Gaîté Parisienne (Maurice Béjart): Pas de deux “The Lovers”

  • Giselle (Production: Reid Anderson, Valentina Savina)(Patrice Bart)(Yvette Chauviré): Duke Albrecht

  • Grand Pas Classique by Daniel Auber

  • Herman Schmerman (William Forsythe)

  • In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated (William Forsythe)

  • Initials R.M.B.E. (John Cranko)

  • Kaash (Akram Khan)

  • Kazimir’s Colours (Mauro Bigonzetti): main role

  • La Bayadere (Natalia Makarova) (Yuri Grigorovich) : Solor

  • La Chauve-Souris (Roland Petit): Johann

  • La fille mal gardée (Sir Frederick Ashton): Colas

  • La Sylphide ((Peter Schaufuss), (Erik Bruhn) after August Bournonville)): James

  • Legende (John Cranko)

  • Les Sylphides (Michail Fokine): Poet

  • Marguerite and Armand (Frederick Ashton): Armand

  • Manon (Kenneth MacMillan): Des Grieux

  • Mayerling (Kenneth MacMillan): Crown Prince Rudolph

  • Mopey (Marco Goecke)

  • Nachtmerrie (Marco Goecke)

  • Onegin (John Cranko): Onegin and Lenski

  • Poème de l’extase (John Cranko): lead role boy in love

  • Raymonda 3.Act (Rudolf Nureyev): Jean de Brienne

  • Ricercare (Glen Tetley)

  • Romeo and Juliet (John Cranko), (Kenneth MacMillan), (Derek Deane) : Romeo

  • Slice to Sharp (Jorma Elo)

  • Songs of a wayfarer (Maurice Béjart) role Nureyev

  • Stravinsky Violin Concerto (George Balanchine)

  • Swan Lake (John Cranko),(Derek Deane),(Yuri Grigorovich),(Rudolf Nureyev),(Asaf Messerer): Prince Siegfried

  • Symphony in C (George Balanchine): 1st movement

  • The Dream (Frederick Ashton): Oberon

  • The Four Temperaments (George Balanchine): Sanguinic

  • The Lady and the Fool (John Cranko): Moondog, Prince

  • The Lady of the Camellias (John Neumeier): Armand Duval and Graf N.

  • The Sleeping Beauty (Márcia Haydée after Marius Petipa): Prince Désiré

  • The Song of the Earth (Kenneth MacMillan): Messanger of Death

  • The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude (William Forsythe)

  • Theme and Variations (George Balanchine): leading role

  • Trois Gnossiennes (Hans van Manen)

  • Voluntaries (Glen Tetley): Pas de trois

Own creations

  • Not in my Hands (Thomas Lempertz / Friedemann Vogel)

  • Die Seele am Faden / Soul Threads (Thomas Lempertz / Friedemann Vogel)

Specially created Roles

  • Adagio Assai (Bridged Breiner)

  • Aurora’s Nap (Johan Inger) Prince Désiré

  • Cadavre Exquis (Guillaume Cote)

  • Carlotta’s Portrait (Christian Spuck)

  • Copelia at Teatro alla Scala (Derek Deane): Franz

  • Creatures with the Tokyo Ballet (Patrick de Bana): male lead role

  • EDEN / EDEN (Wayne McGregor)

  • Fancy Goods (Marco Goecke)

  • Giselle (Irina Lukasova): Duke Albrecht

  • Il Concertone (Mauro Bigonzetti)

  • Le petit rien (Christian Spuck)

  • Mono Lisa (Itzik Galili)

  • Metrof (Shaked Heller)

  • nocturne (Christian Spuck)

  • Nuit Blanche (Sébastien Bertaud)

  • Orlando (Marco Goecke): title role

  • Raymonda at Teatro alla Scala (Sergej Vikharev):Jean de Brienne

  • Source (Edward Clug)

  • still.nest (Dominique Dumais)

  • Strictly Gershwin (Derek Deane)

  • Symphony NO. 2 "Under the Trees' Voices" (David Dawson)

  • Taiyō to Tsuki (Martin Schläpfer)

  • The Chambers of a Heart (Itzik Galili)

  • The Firebird (Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui)   

  • The Nutcracker (Edward Clug): Nutcracker, Nephew

  • The Shaking Tent (Marc Spradling)

  • The Sleeping Beauty (Derek Deane),(Cyntia Harvey): Prince Desiré

  • Tristesse for ''Kings of the Dance'' (Marcelo Gomes)

  • Two Pieces of Matter against the Gravitational Force (Jean Christophe Blavier)

 

Awards

  • Prix de Lausanne (cash prize)

  • Prix de Louxembourg (Gold Medal)

  • Jackson Competition USA (Bronze Medal)

  • Eurocity Competition (Gold Medal)

  • Erik Bruhn Prize 2002

  • Dancer of the Year 2010 by the international dance critics survey of the magazine TANZ

  • Elected as "Best male dancer 2011" by Danza&Danza magazine Italy

  • Léonide Massine Prize as''Best male dancer'' 2012, Positano Italy

  • "Prix MAYA"2016 by Ballet2000, Cannes France

  • Dancer of the Year 2019 by the international dance critics survey of the magazine TANZ

  • "Outstanding Performer" award of the German Dance Prize 2020

  • John Cranko Prize 2024