Neumeier was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he received his first ballet training. After completing a B.A. in English literature and theater studies at Marquette University in 1961, he continued his training in Copenhagen with Vera Volkova and at the Royal Ballet School in London. In 1963 he joined the Stuttgart Ballet under John Cranko, rising to the rank of soloist. In 1969 Neumeier became director of the Frankfurt Ballet, before becoming director and chief choreographer at the Hamburg Ballet in 1973. From 1971 through 1974 Neumeier was also guest choreographer for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, where he provided repertoire and staged his version of The Nutcracker.
Noted works
Neumeier's choreographic output consists of more than 120 works, including many evening-length narrative ballets. Many are drawn from literary sources, such as Don Juan, Hamlet ConnotationsThe Lady of the Camellias, A Streetcar Named Desire, Peer Gynt, The Seagull, Death in Venice, The Little Mermaid, Liliom and Tatiana. Of particular importance are his adaptations of plays by William Shakespeare, including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, As You Like It, Hamlet and VIVALDI, or What You Will. He has reinterpreted and rechoreographed the seminal classics of the 19th century: The Nutcracker, set in the world of 19th-century ballet, Illusions, like Swan Lake, based loosely on the life of Ludwig II of Bavaria, The Sleeping Beauty and Giselle. He has choreographed works on Biblical subjects, including The Legend of Joseph, Saint Matthew Passion, Magnificat, Requiem, Messiah and Christmas Oratorio, as well as ballets inspired by mythological subjects: Daphnis et Chloe, Sylvia, Orpheus, Tristan, The Saga of King Arthur and Parzival - Episodes and Echo. Neumeier is particularly inspired by the life and work of Vaslav Nijinsky and has produced several ballets about him: Vaslav, the full-length Nijinsky and Le Pavillon d'Armide. Neumeier has also choreographed a number of ballets to the music of Gustav Mahler, including the biographical Purgatorio, set to Deryck Cooke's reconstruction of Mahler's Tenth Symphony. In addition, Neumeier has choreographed Mahler's First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Ninth symphonies, as well as the Rückert-Lieder, Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Song of the Earth. In 2017 he created and directed a new production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice for the Lyric Opera of Chicago featuring the Joffrey Ballet. The same year, he also became a director of the Le Pavillon d'Armide,
