Johann "Hans" Kresnik (born 1939) is an Austrian dancer, choreographer, and theater director working in the tradition of German Tanztheater (dance theater) who is known for his politically charged approach to dance.
Early life
Johann Kresnik was born December 12, 1939, in Sankt Margarethen, in the municipality of Bleiburg in the South Austrian state of Carinthia. It has been said that at the age of three he witnessed the shooting of his father—then serving in the Wehrmacht—by Slovenian partisans. He began his professional life working as a toolmaker, and his career as a performer began almost accidentally when he got a walk-on part at the Graz opera house in the late 1950s. Not long afterwards, unwilling to undertake required military service in Austria due to his antiwar views, he moved to Germany, where he has lived ever since. Although he had a background in gymnastics, he only began serious dance training when he moved to Cologne in 1962, where he studied with Leon Wojcikowski and Aurel von Miloss.
Johann Kresnik | Gottfried Helnwein | Kurt Schwertsik & TANZLIN.Z "Macbeth"
published: 26 Apr 2019
Controversial dance drama based on ex chancellor's late wife
(17 Dec 2004)
1. Exterior of Bonn opera house
2. Poster of dance drama "Hannelore Kohl", showing a red stiletto on a green pear (former chancellor Helmut Kohl was called "pear" by his critics, and cartoonists loved to caricature him with a pear-shaped head)
3. Johann Kresnik, responsible for staging and choreography, watching rehearsal with assistant
4. Wide shot stage, opening scene with "Hannelore Kohl" in her pyjamas commiting suicide
5. Close shot on stage, "Hannelore Kohl" drinking water with pills
6. SOUNDBITE (German) Johann Kresnik, choreographer "Hannelore Kohl"
"Of course, it is provocative to stage a play about Hannelore Kohl so soon after her suicide. But... it is necessary! In the theatre we have to be more political, we have to be more interested in what's happeni...
published: 21 Jul 2015
Johann Kresnik - "Ernst Jünger" Volksbühne Berlin (am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz)
rbb / mdr Bericht zur Premiere ( Dezember 1994 )
published: 12 Feb 2017
Johann Kresnik "Gründgens" - Schauspielhaus Hamburg 1995
ZDF - Apropos Theater (Interview und Ausschnitte der Inszenierung)
published: 13 Feb 2017
Taller Integrado - Carolyn Carlson / Johann Kresnik
Trabajo sobre los artistas Carlson y Kresnik. USB Med. Janned Gil.
published: 27 Feb 2014
Johann Kresnik - "Hänsel und Gretel" Volksbühne Berlin 1995
rbb / mdr Bericht zur Premiere (November 1995)
published: 13 Feb 2017
SAMMLUNG PRINZHORN - Johann Kresnik - Theater und Orchester Heidelberg
von Christoph Klimke
Uraufführung im Opernzelt des Theater und Orchester Heidelberg am 18.2.2012
Regie und Choreografie Johann Kresnik
Bühne Marion Eisele
Kostüme Erika Landertinger
Musik James Reynolds
Dramaturgie Christoph Klimke | Jürgen Popig
Prinzhorn Andreas Seifert
Vater / Brendel / Arzt 4 Olaf Weißenberg
Mutter / August Neter Christina Rubruck
Hannah Koettgen / Erna Hoffmann / Else Blankenhorn Evamaria Salcher
Schwester / Eva Jones / Litschan Hoffmann Natalie Mukherjee
Klotz / Moog / Orth (Double 1) / Arzt 3 Michael Kamp
Pohl / Beil (Double 2) / Arzt 5 Steffen Gangloff
Arzt 1 / Ludwig Klages Benedikt Crisand
Knüpfer / Welz (Double 3) / Arzt 2 Florian Mania
Tanz Emilie Assayag | Johanna Berger | Harald Beutelstahl | Charlie Fouchier | Philipp Schumacher | Osvaldo Ventriglia | Yoshi...
published: 25 Apr 2012
European Dance Theater - Screener
Includes interviews and choreogrpahy by Kurt Joos and Pina Bausch.
European dance theatre comes alive through the works and voices of its creators and fascinating narrative about its originators. Features dance exerpts and interviews with: Johann Kresnik: includes Frida Kahlo, Macbeth, Pasolini; Pina Bausch: rehearsal of Le Sacre du Printemps; Dance Stage Laban: Demonstrations of Laban's work in the early twentieth century. Archival footage and beautifully filmed and edited excerpts of current repertory demonstrates the forms and power of this genre.
DVD, NTSC/PAL
Year 1997
Length 60 mins
DVD available from
Europe, UK: http://www.artfilms.co.uk/Detail.aspx?ItemID=2677
US, Australia, World: http://www.artfilms.com.au/Detail.aspx?ItemID=2677
STREAMING: http://www.artfilms-digital.com
published: 26 Apr 2013
ISMAEL IVO - IN MEMORIAM JOHANN KRESNIK
Künstlerischer Beitrag im Rahmen der Verabschiedung des im Sommer 2019 verstorbenen Regisseures und Choreographen Johann Kresnik am 05.10.2019 im Kulturni dom in Pliberk/Bleiburg.
published: 14 Apr 2020
JOHANN KRESNIK, ÁNGEL BECCASSINO, CHE GUEVARA
Propuesta de teatro coreográfico critico sobre el Plan Colombia, de Kresnik sobre música de Beccassino. [email protected]
(17 Dec 2004)
1. Exterior of Bonn opera house
2. Poster of dance drama "Hannelore Kohl", showing a red stiletto on a green pear (former chancellor Helmut ...
(17 Dec 2004)
1. Exterior of Bonn opera house
2. Poster of dance drama "Hannelore Kohl", showing a red stiletto on a green pear (former chancellor Helmut Kohl was called "pear" by his critics, and cartoonists loved to caricature him with a pear-shaped head)
3. Johann Kresnik, responsible for staging and choreography, watching rehearsal with assistant
4. Wide shot stage, opening scene with "Hannelore Kohl" in her pyjamas commiting suicide
5. Close shot on stage, "Hannelore Kohl" drinking water with pills
6. SOUNDBITE (German) Johann Kresnik, choreographer "Hannelore Kohl"
"Of course, it is provocative to stage a play about Hannelore Kohl so soon after her suicide. But... it is necessary! In the theatre we have to be more political, we have to be more interested in what's happening to us than was the case up to now."
7. On stage, "Helmut Kohl" carrying stiff "Hannelore Kohl" in pyjamas, drinking one of her lethal pill cocktails, putting her on a chair and standing beside her
8. SOUNDBITE (German) Johann Kresnik, choreographer "Hannelore Kohl"
"Of course, Kohl is a big character beside her on stage, also influencing her fate. But it is not our priority to criticise Helmut Kohl. It's about the biography of Hannelore Kohl and, of course, also about the scandals around Helmut Kohl who she has backed."
9. On stage, dance scene showing young "Hannelore Kohl" with her parents, her father wearing a war helmet and with a swastika on his naked back, her mother folding a flag of the national socialists
10. On stage, "Helmut Kohl" in his underpants, walking across stage, his wife
11. Cutaway crew watching rehearsal
12. On stage, "Hannelore Kohl" feeding her two sons from a bottle, "Helmut Kohl" banging a drum and cymbals
13. SOUNDBITE (German) Johann Kresnik, choreographer "Hannelore Kohl"
"It is a German fate, the fate of a German woman with a very powerful husband, and it probably had to end like this. If you are left alone like her, you probably have to choose suicide. And it seems to me that her situation resembles the position of Germany today. Germany has arrived at the end of Europe - economically and regarding education. Where are all the reforms, where are all the things that have been promised for decades? Helmut Kohl paved the way for today's misery already 16, 20 years ago and also bears the blame for it."
14. On stage, "Helmut Kohl" as he is sworn in as chancellor, with "Hannelore Kohl" by his side
15. Wide shot stage
STORYLINE
A controversial dance play about Hannelore Kohl, the wife of the former German chancellor who commited suicide in 2001, is due to premiere on Friday at the Bonn Opera house.
The play, which also includes dance, deals with the life of Hannelore Kohl, the relationship between her and husband Helmut Kohl, his affairs with other women and her suicide in the summer of 2001, as well as the politcal history of his time in office.
Johann Kresnik was the Austrian choreographer on "Hannelore Kohl", a man known for his unconventional and radical productions, and the original idea and the libretto are by Uschi Otten.
Kresnik has already staged various biographical plays about famous women - Sylvia Plath, Ulrike Meinhof, Rosa Luxembrg, Frida Kahlo and controversial German film maker Leni Riefenstahl.
Hannelore Kohl's life was dominated by her life in the public spotlight and the political role of her husband.
Kresnik focuses on this, as well as her childhood and youth (she was born in 1933).
The parents of Hannelore Kohl were National Socialists (Nazis), and her father owned an arms factory.
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(17 Dec 2004)
1. Exterior of Bonn opera house
2. Poster of dance drama "Hannelore Kohl", showing a red stiletto on a green pear (former chancellor Helmut Kohl was called "pear" by his critics, and cartoonists loved to caricature him with a pear-shaped head)
3. Johann Kresnik, responsible for staging and choreography, watching rehearsal with assistant
4. Wide shot stage, opening scene with "Hannelore Kohl" in her pyjamas commiting suicide
5. Close shot on stage, "Hannelore Kohl" drinking water with pills
6. SOUNDBITE (German) Johann Kresnik, choreographer "Hannelore Kohl"
"Of course, it is provocative to stage a play about Hannelore Kohl so soon after her suicide. But... it is necessary! In the theatre we have to be more political, we have to be more interested in what's happening to us than was the case up to now."
7. On stage, "Helmut Kohl" carrying stiff "Hannelore Kohl" in pyjamas, drinking one of her lethal pill cocktails, putting her on a chair and standing beside her
8. SOUNDBITE (German) Johann Kresnik, choreographer "Hannelore Kohl"
"Of course, Kohl is a big character beside her on stage, also influencing her fate. But it is not our priority to criticise Helmut Kohl. It's about the biography of Hannelore Kohl and, of course, also about the scandals around Helmut Kohl who she has backed."
9. On stage, dance scene showing young "Hannelore Kohl" with her parents, her father wearing a war helmet and with a swastika on his naked back, her mother folding a flag of the national socialists
10. On stage, "Helmut Kohl" in his underpants, walking across stage, his wife
11. Cutaway crew watching rehearsal
12. On stage, "Hannelore Kohl" feeding her two sons from a bottle, "Helmut Kohl" banging a drum and cymbals
13. SOUNDBITE (German) Johann Kresnik, choreographer "Hannelore Kohl"
"It is a German fate, the fate of a German woman with a very powerful husband, and it probably had to end like this. If you are left alone like her, you probably have to choose suicide. And it seems to me that her situation resembles the position of Germany today. Germany has arrived at the end of Europe - economically and regarding education. Where are all the reforms, where are all the things that have been promised for decades? Helmut Kohl paved the way for today's misery already 16, 20 years ago and also bears the blame for it."
14. On stage, "Helmut Kohl" as he is sworn in as chancellor, with "Hannelore Kohl" by his side
15. Wide shot stage
STORYLINE
A controversial dance play about Hannelore Kohl, the wife of the former German chancellor who commited suicide in 2001, is due to premiere on Friday at the Bonn Opera house.
The play, which also includes dance, deals with the life of Hannelore Kohl, the relationship between her and husband Helmut Kohl, his affairs with other women and her suicide in the summer of 2001, as well as the politcal history of his time in office.
Johann Kresnik was the Austrian choreographer on "Hannelore Kohl", a man known for his unconventional and radical productions, and the original idea and the libretto are by Uschi Otten.
Kresnik has already staged various biographical plays about famous women - Sylvia Plath, Ulrike Meinhof, Rosa Luxembrg, Frida Kahlo and controversial German film maker Leni Riefenstahl.
Hannelore Kohl's life was dominated by her life in the public spotlight and the political role of her husband.
Kresnik focuses on this, as well as her childhood and youth (she was born in 1933).
The parents of Hannelore Kohl were National Socialists (Nazis), and her father owned an arms factory.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/2e3ad3895afc4a8d37675029ef5903ba
von Christoph Klimke
Uraufführung im Opernzelt des Theater und Orchester Heidelberg am 18.2.2012
Regie und Choreografie Johann Kresnik
Bühne Marion Eisele
Kost...
von Christoph Klimke
Uraufführung im Opernzelt des Theater und Orchester Heidelberg am 18.2.2012
Regie und Choreografie Johann Kresnik
Bühne Marion Eisele
Kostüme Erika Landertinger
Musik James Reynolds
Dramaturgie Christoph Klimke | Jürgen Popig
Prinzhorn Andreas Seifert
Vater / Brendel / Arzt 4 Olaf Weißenberg
Mutter / August Neter Christina Rubruck
Hannah Koettgen / Erna Hoffmann / Else Blankenhorn Evamaria Salcher
Schwester / Eva Jones / Litschan Hoffmann Natalie Mukherjee
Klotz / Moog / Orth (Double 1) / Arzt 3 Michael Kamp
Pohl / Beil (Double 2) / Arzt 5 Steffen Gangloff
Arzt 1 / Ludwig Klages Benedikt Crisand
Knüpfer / Welz (Double 3) / Arzt 2 Florian Mania
Tanz Emilie Assayag | Johanna Berger | Harald Beutelstahl | Charlie Fouchier | Philipp Schumacher | Osvaldo Ventriglia | Yoshiko Waki | Krzysztof Zawadzki | Eckhardt Döring
Statisterie des Theater und Orchester Heidelberg
Mitglieder des Philharmonischen Orchester Heidelberg
von Christoph Klimke
Uraufführung im Opernzelt des Theater und Orchester Heidelberg am 18.2.2012
Regie und Choreografie Johann Kresnik
Bühne Marion Eisele
Kostüme Erika Landertinger
Musik James Reynolds
Dramaturgie Christoph Klimke | Jürgen Popig
Prinzhorn Andreas Seifert
Vater / Brendel / Arzt 4 Olaf Weißenberg
Mutter / August Neter Christina Rubruck
Hannah Koettgen / Erna Hoffmann / Else Blankenhorn Evamaria Salcher
Schwester / Eva Jones / Litschan Hoffmann Natalie Mukherjee
Klotz / Moog / Orth (Double 1) / Arzt 3 Michael Kamp
Pohl / Beil (Double 2) / Arzt 5 Steffen Gangloff
Arzt 1 / Ludwig Klages Benedikt Crisand
Knüpfer / Welz (Double 3) / Arzt 2 Florian Mania
Tanz Emilie Assayag | Johanna Berger | Harald Beutelstahl | Charlie Fouchier | Philipp Schumacher | Osvaldo Ventriglia | Yoshiko Waki | Krzysztof Zawadzki | Eckhardt Döring
Statisterie des Theater und Orchester Heidelberg
Mitglieder des Philharmonischen Orchester Heidelberg
Includes interviews and choreogrpahy by Kurt Joos and Pina Bausch.
European dance theatre comes alive through the works and voices of its creators and fascinat...
Includes interviews and choreogrpahy by Kurt Joos and Pina Bausch.
European dance theatre comes alive through the works and voices of its creators and fascinating narrative about its originators. Features dance exerpts and interviews with: Johann Kresnik: includes Frida Kahlo, Macbeth, Pasolini; Pina Bausch: rehearsal of Le Sacre du Printemps; Dance Stage Laban: Demonstrations of Laban's work in the early twentieth century. Archival footage and beautifully filmed and edited excerpts of current repertory demonstrates the forms and power of this genre.
DVD, NTSC/PAL
Year 1997
Length 60 mins
DVD available from
Europe, UK: http://www.artfilms.co.uk/Detail.aspx?ItemID=2677
US, Australia, World: http://www.artfilms.com.au/Detail.aspx?ItemID=2677
STREAMING: http://www.artfilms-digital.com
Includes interviews and choreogrpahy by Kurt Joos and Pina Bausch.
European dance theatre comes alive through the works and voices of its creators and fascinating narrative about its originators. Features dance exerpts and interviews with: Johann Kresnik: includes Frida Kahlo, Macbeth, Pasolini; Pina Bausch: rehearsal of Le Sacre du Printemps; Dance Stage Laban: Demonstrations of Laban's work in the early twentieth century. Archival footage and beautifully filmed and edited excerpts of current repertory demonstrates the forms and power of this genre.
DVD, NTSC/PAL
Year 1997
Length 60 mins
DVD available from
Europe, UK: http://www.artfilms.co.uk/Detail.aspx?ItemID=2677
US, Australia, World: http://www.artfilms.com.au/Detail.aspx?ItemID=2677
STREAMING: http://www.artfilms-digital.com
Künstlerischer Beitrag im Rahmen der Verabschiedung des im Sommer 2019 verstorbenen Regisseures und Choreographen Johann Kresnik am 05.10.2019 im Kulturni dom i...
Künstlerischer Beitrag im Rahmen der Verabschiedung des im Sommer 2019 verstorbenen Regisseures und Choreographen Johann Kresnik am 05.10.2019 im Kulturni dom in Pliberk/Bleiburg.
Künstlerischer Beitrag im Rahmen der Verabschiedung des im Sommer 2019 verstorbenen Regisseures und Choreographen Johann Kresnik am 05.10.2019 im Kulturni dom in Pliberk/Bleiburg.
(17 Dec 2004)
1. Exterior of Bonn opera house
2. Poster of dance drama "Hannelore Kohl", showing a red stiletto on a green pear (former chancellor Helmut Kohl was called "pear" by his critics, and cartoonists loved to caricature him with a pear-shaped head)
3. Johann Kresnik, responsible for staging and choreography, watching rehearsal with assistant
4. Wide shot stage, opening scene with "Hannelore Kohl" in her pyjamas commiting suicide
5. Close shot on stage, "Hannelore Kohl" drinking water with pills
6. SOUNDBITE (German) Johann Kresnik, choreographer "Hannelore Kohl"
"Of course, it is provocative to stage a play about Hannelore Kohl so soon after her suicide. But... it is necessary! In the theatre we have to be more political, we have to be more interested in what's happening to us than was the case up to now."
7. On stage, "Helmut Kohl" carrying stiff "Hannelore Kohl" in pyjamas, drinking one of her lethal pill cocktails, putting her on a chair and standing beside her
8. SOUNDBITE (German) Johann Kresnik, choreographer "Hannelore Kohl"
"Of course, Kohl is a big character beside her on stage, also influencing her fate. But it is not our priority to criticise Helmut Kohl. It's about the biography of Hannelore Kohl and, of course, also about the scandals around Helmut Kohl who she has backed."
9. On stage, dance scene showing young "Hannelore Kohl" with her parents, her father wearing a war helmet and with a swastika on his naked back, her mother folding a flag of the national socialists
10. On stage, "Helmut Kohl" in his underpants, walking across stage, his wife
11. Cutaway crew watching rehearsal
12. On stage, "Hannelore Kohl" feeding her two sons from a bottle, "Helmut Kohl" banging a drum and cymbals
13. SOUNDBITE (German) Johann Kresnik, choreographer "Hannelore Kohl"
"It is a German fate, the fate of a German woman with a very powerful husband, and it probably had to end like this. If you are left alone like her, you probably have to choose suicide. And it seems to me that her situation resembles the position of Germany today. Germany has arrived at the end of Europe - economically and regarding education. Where are all the reforms, where are all the things that have been promised for decades? Helmut Kohl paved the way for today's misery already 16, 20 years ago and also bears the blame for it."
14. On stage, "Helmut Kohl" as he is sworn in as chancellor, with "Hannelore Kohl" by his side
15. Wide shot stage
STORYLINE
A controversial dance play about Hannelore Kohl, the wife of the former German chancellor who commited suicide in 2001, is due to premiere on Friday at the Bonn Opera house.
The play, which also includes dance, deals with the life of Hannelore Kohl, the relationship between her and husband Helmut Kohl, his affairs with other women and her suicide in the summer of 2001, as well as the politcal history of his time in office.
Johann Kresnik was the Austrian choreographer on "Hannelore Kohl", a man known for his unconventional and radical productions, and the original idea and the libretto are by Uschi Otten.
Kresnik has already staged various biographical plays about famous women - Sylvia Plath, Ulrike Meinhof, Rosa Luxembrg, Frida Kahlo and controversial German film maker Leni Riefenstahl.
Hannelore Kohl's life was dominated by her life in the public spotlight and the political role of her husband.
Kresnik focuses on this, as well as her childhood and youth (she was born in 1933).
The parents of Hannelore Kohl were National Socialists (Nazis), and her father owned an arms factory.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/2e3ad3895afc4a8d37675029ef5903ba
von Christoph Klimke
Uraufführung im Opernzelt des Theater und Orchester Heidelberg am 18.2.2012
Regie und Choreografie Johann Kresnik
Bühne Marion Eisele
Kostüme Erika Landertinger
Musik James Reynolds
Dramaturgie Christoph Klimke | Jürgen Popig
Prinzhorn Andreas Seifert
Vater / Brendel / Arzt 4 Olaf Weißenberg
Mutter / August Neter Christina Rubruck
Hannah Koettgen / Erna Hoffmann / Else Blankenhorn Evamaria Salcher
Schwester / Eva Jones / Litschan Hoffmann Natalie Mukherjee
Klotz / Moog / Orth (Double 1) / Arzt 3 Michael Kamp
Pohl / Beil (Double 2) / Arzt 5 Steffen Gangloff
Arzt 1 / Ludwig Klages Benedikt Crisand
Knüpfer / Welz (Double 3) / Arzt 2 Florian Mania
Tanz Emilie Assayag | Johanna Berger | Harald Beutelstahl | Charlie Fouchier | Philipp Schumacher | Osvaldo Ventriglia | Yoshiko Waki | Krzysztof Zawadzki | Eckhardt Döring
Statisterie des Theater und Orchester Heidelberg
Mitglieder des Philharmonischen Orchester Heidelberg
Includes interviews and choreogrpahy by Kurt Joos and Pina Bausch.
European dance theatre comes alive through the works and voices of its creators and fascinating narrative about its originators. Features dance exerpts and interviews with: Johann Kresnik: includes Frida Kahlo, Macbeth, Pasolini; Pina Bausch: rehearsal of Le Sacre du Printemps; Dance Stage Laban: Demonstrations of Laban's work in the early twentieth century. Archival footage and beautifully filmed and edited excerpts of current repertory demonstrates the forms and power of this genre.
DVD, NTSC/PAL
Year 1997
Length 60 mins
DVD available from
Europe, UK: http://www.artfilms.co.uk/Detail.aspx?ItemID=2677
US, Australia, World: http://www.artfilms.com.au/Detail.aspx?ItemID=2677
STREAMING: http://www.artfilms-digital.com
Künstlerischer Beitrag im Rahmen der Verabschiedung des im Sommer 2019 verstorbenen Regisseures und Choreographen Johann Kresnik am 05.10.2019 im Kulturni dom in Pliberk/Bleiburg.
Johann "Hans" Kresnik (born 1939) is an Austrian dancer, choreographer, and theater director working in the tradition of German Tanztheater (dance theater) who is known for his politically charged approach to dance.
Early life
Johann Kresnik was born December 12, 1939, in Sankt Margarethen, in the municipality of Bleiburg in the South Austrian state of Carinthia. It has been said that at the age of three he witnessed the shooting of his father—then serving in the Wehrmacht—by Slovenian partisans. He began his professional life working as a toolmaker, and his career as a performer began almost accidentally when he got a walk-on part at the Graz opera house in the late 1950s. Not long afterwards, unwilling to undertake required military service in Austria due to his antiwar views, he moved to Germany, where he has lived ever since. Although he had a background in gymnastics, he only began serious dance training when he moved to Cologne in 1962, where he studied with Leon Wojcikowski and Aurel von Miloss.