Florian Hurler
What was your musical or dance "awakening"?
I actually started ballet as a child in the 80s when I watched the ZDF series Anna. I've stuck with dance ever since.
Why do characters actually dance?
How do you order in a country where you don't speak the language? They say: "With hands and feet". So: where words stop, movement takes over.
What role can/should musical theatre play in today's society?
"Theatre can present the world as changeable." - a sentence I like to think about.
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Florian Hurler was born in Augsburg and received his training at the Academie de Dance Classique Monaco, the Ballet Centre Hamburg and the Heinz Bosl Foundation in Munich, from which he graduated with an artistic diploma.
In 1997, Florian Hurler was awarded the Kulturföderpreis of the city of Augsburg. From 2000 to 2004, he was a member of the Leipzig Ballet under Uwe Scholz and from 2004 to 2013 a member of the Vienna Saatsballett, where he became rehearsal director in 2011. In the 2014/15 season, he took over as dance director and choreographic assistant for the ensemble and chorus at the Volksoper Wien.
As a choreographer, he has worked for the Bregenz Festival (Kehraus um St. Stephan), the Volksoper Wien (Sweeney Todd, Der Kongress tanzt, Vivaldi - Die fünfte Jahreszeit, Powder Her Face), the Theater an der Wien (Serse), the Wiener Festwochen (JOIN!) and the Out of Control Festival (Camilo Chamäleon).
He has also created numerous choreographies for the Retz Festival (including Dido and Aeneas, Juditha triumphans), the jOPERA Summer Festival (Die Feldermaus, Hänsel und Gretel, Der Freischütz) and the Steyr Music Festival (West Side Story, Cabaret, Chicago).
Florian Hurler has also taught at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, created choreographies with students at the Folkwang University Essen and was responsible for the choreography of the FIA Gala.
* Use of the photograph (© Nadine Weixler) only for the purpose of current reporting on the Volksoper Wien