Dear dancers, dear Laurent Hilaire, dear Bavarian State Ballet team, dear audience,

It is a pleasure and an honour to present you with the ‘Highlight of the Year 2025’ award at the end of the premiere of ‘The Nutcracker’ (in John Neumeier's insightful version) on behalf of the magazine “tanz” from Berlin. We determined this ‘highlight’ in a yearbook survey of our critics. It reflects your technical brilliance, your artistic expression – in short, the charisma of the Bayerisches Staatsballett. In purely mathematical terms, the ‘highlight’ is the result of all the mentions relating to your company in the survey: from dancers and productions to conductors and the overall impression of the ensemble.

Conclusion: The Bayerisches Staatsballett's 2024-25 season was thoroughly convincing – not only to critics, but certainly also to audiences. Let me add something that struck me during various interviews and rehearsal visits at the ballet theatre. On such occasions, visitors also get a sense of the atmosphere and mood in the theatre:  when dancers come and go, greeting or saying goodbye to each other. All the little routines and rituals, just like the notices on the notice board, bring the subtle nuances of everyday life to life. The impression of the onlooker: everything runs harmoniously here, both on stage and behind the scenes. From Pina Bausch's ‘Sacre du printemps’ to Pierre Lacotte's version of ‘La Sylphide’ to ‘The Nutcracker’, we have experienced high-class ballet theatre – as befits a company overseen by a danseur étoile of the Paris Opera – incidentally, the first star that Rudolf Nureyev made shine in the Parisian dance firmament at the time. In Munich, Laurent Hilaire has assembled a company since 2022 that shines, sparkles and glows from the top to the corps de ballet!

Even before you started here, dear Laurent Hilaire, you told me in a conversation: "For me, classical ballet and contemporary ballet complement each other perfectly. We have to present the masterpieces – but at the same time we have to move with the times. The magic moment is when dancers are able to create a kind of life on stage – to create it together. Ultimately, that is my goal: excellence, quality and identity.‘ I would say: ’mission accomplished", and with flying colours.

We honour this success, which you have all achieved together, with the title ‘Highlight of the Year 2025’ – congratulations!

Munich, 2 November 2025

Dr Dorion Weickmann, tanz – magazine for ballet, dance and performance