Hamburg Ballett officialises interim joint leadership following Volpi's departure
- Ikuko
- Jul 29
- 2 min read
Hamburg Ballett has officialised the interim joint leaderships for the next season to fill in the gap following the departure of the former artistic director, Demis Volpi.
The German company announced in the news statement dated on 24th July 2025 that the Supervisory Board of the Hamburg Opera House decided on the interim leadership of the Hamburg Ballet for the 2025-2026 season at the meeting the day before. The board appointed Nicolas Hartmann as the Interim Executive Managing Director of the ballet company and the school.
Likewise, the current Deputy Artistic Director Lloyd Riggins was appointed as Interim Artistic Director. The current Deputy Director of Ballet School Gigi Hyatt was appointed as Interim Ballet School Director. Hartmann would share the leadership with them.
This shared leadership was installed to priorities the quality of new commissions and "the continued care of John Neumeier's repertoire" and it was likely to continue into the 2026-2027 season, the statement said.
Simultaneously, the search for the new artistic director would start after the summer break in "an externally moderated process," the statement said.
In June 2025, Hamburg Ballett already said the board was looking into the interim joint-leadership by Hartmann, Riggins and Hyatt when it announced the departure of Volpi in less than a year at the artistic director job.
Volpi succeeded Neumeier, the founder of Hamburg Ballett and the artistic director for five decades, in August 2024. However, more than half of the company dancers wrote a letter to Senator for Culture Carsten Brosda in May 2025, accusing Volpi of creating toxic work environment and a lack of artistic quality and appreciation. Five principal dancers left the company by the end of the current season.
