Professional references

Emil Wesolowski, (former) artistic director of the ballet of the National Theatre in Warsaw, Poland
Mr. Martin Meng was employed in the National Theatre in Warsaw from October 1, 1994 till June 31 1996 as a pedagogue/coach of the ballet.  In everyday work with both soloists and corps de ballet, he showed excellent essential preparation and pedagogical talent.
Lessons conducted by Mr. Martin Meng are distinguished by richness of methodological and choreographic solutions and purposefulness of their application.
During his work in our theatre, Mr. Martin Meng prepared many young soloists for leading parts in classical ballets such as “Swan Lake”, “Giselle” and “The Nutcracker”. He was a well-organized and conscientious employee, commited to everyday life and work of the ballet company.

Jean-Yves Esquerre, director European School of Ballet
I have known Martin Meng for several years and we have started a more regular collaboration since 2018.
Meng is a great professional with a definite knowledge and deep understanding of our profession. His artistic path has led him to work with world-renowned teachers and choreographers and his insights into pedagogical principles and requirements have now helped numerous young artists. Beyond his obvious professional qualities, Meng is a loyal supporter of the arts and his dedication to ballet has been acknowledged by many European organizations. He is a teacher and private coach who seeks the highest good for his students and whose ethics and commitment provide great support for those he dedicates his time to.
European School of Ballet has had the pleasure to invite him as a guest and he is a permanent international talent scout for our school.

Karol Urbanski, Choreographer, Ballet Manager Opera na Zamku
I’ve known Martin Meng as a ballet teacher, choreographer assistant and coach for more then twenty years. I cooperated with him both as a dancer at The National Opera Warsaw and much later as a ballet manager of the ballet company at the Opera na Zamku Szczecin.
He has a deep knowledge of classical ballet technique and what is even more important of its style. He is very precise; his exercises are always very well combined and serve very clear purposes of the dancer’s development.
He has also deep sense of musicality, which makes his class a real introduction into the nuances of ballet. As a coach he always has the idea of the choreographer in mind and tries to find the best ways to make a dancer execute choreographic material as good as possible. He is demanding and tries to take dancers out of their comfort zone but at the same time is encouraging them to overcome their own limitations.
I owe much to Martin Meng in my own artistic development, when I was a soloist in the ballet of The National Opera Warsaw and he was coaching me for such roles as Siegfried in “Swan Lake”.
Also the dancers of the Opera na Zamku are always very happy with Martin Meng’s work, achieved results and friendly, supportive atmosphere.

Erez Milatin, dancer New York Theatre Ballet
I met Martin Meng during a summer course on Cyprus in 2008. He believed in my potential and invited me for private classes in the Netherlands. There he further encouraged me and prepared me to audition in New York, which resulted in the wonderful opportunity to study on scholarship at the renowned Ellison Ballet School. Because of this I became the dancer I am today, so far I have not only performed many great classical roles in New York, but also danced solos of Merce Cunningham, was nominated for the Clive Barnes Award, performed with dancers of American Ballet Theatre and as a soloist in galas among stars of the Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.
Martin Meng was one the first teachers who believed in me and supported me, and quite frankly, after living in NYC for ten years I can say, that he is a true rarity amongst teachers, he saw what no one else did.
Martin continues to accompany me along my path, as a teacher who saw in me what I did not dare to see. I‘m grateful for his belief in my talent and for giving me the tools for making my dream come true.

 

Aglaja Sawatzki, Hungarian National Ballet
My name is Aglaja Sawatzki, I am a professional dancer at the Hungarian National Ballet.
Thanks to Martins help, I was able to make great progress and develop further besides my education at the Berlin State Ballet School and as a result I was admitted to the Hungarian National Ballet School where I ultimately made my dream a career.
In addition to private lessons, I also participated in Martin’s evening classes. These are extremely well constructed, since they are well adapted to the student’s needs. There are also many passionate amateur dancers who want to do something for their soul and body after their work. 

 

Noah Hak, student European School of Ballet, now dancing in the Bavarian State Ballet, Munich
As mother of Noah I am writing this letter for Mr. Martin Meng.
Noah has followed private lessons by Mr. Meng as a supplement to his classical ballet training.
During the summer of 2015 Noah had the pleasure to meet Martin when attending to a summer workshop for international ballet students in Amsterdam.
The chemistry between Noah and Martin during this workshop was good from the start.
Martin showed to have a good eye for recognizing what Noah s needs where and this resulted in a better performance. An important point to recognize in this context is that Martin was not only working on the physical aspects but also on mental empowerment.
As a result of this we decided to visit Martin in Berlin for private lessons. Only over a one-week period Noah showed great enjoyment in training hard, and stunning improvement. We know Mr. Meng as a passionate, warm hearted, driven teacher. As mentioned Mr. Meng has the great quality of truly understanding ( in the broadest sense of the word ) the needs of a student. Furthermore, Martin also showed himself skilful in explaining the language of ballet in a clear and understandable way. Or as Noah himself has said:” if Martin explains something to me I almost immediately understands what he means”.
It is for the above-mentioned reasons that we ( Noah and I ) can highly recommend Martin as a teacher to any ballet student who is willing to make the next step.
Sincerely yours,
Carolina Hak

Savanna Haberland, Dancer Ballett Chemnitz
My name is Savanna Haberland, I am 23 years old and a professional ballet dancer from Berlin. It was almost 10 years ago since I first took part in the ballet training of Martin Meng at the Weinmeisterhaus. From that moment on, I knew that for my career as a dancer, Martin would be the perfect teacher to help me develop the lines and technique of classical dance in addition to my training at the Berlin State Ballet School. As an experienced ballet dancer and teacher, Martin Meng has helped me not only in Wednesday’s training, but also in individual lessons. In these, the focus was put on the fundamentals of classical dance, to improve my technique. He also recorded videos of my dancing for international applications. Through his help, expertise and contacts around the world, I was invited to the summer course at the Nederlands Dans Theater (Netherlands) 2011, and to the summer course of the Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet in San Francisco (USA) 2013 & 2014 with a scholarship. After completing my education and studies, I had the honor of working with the Mystic Ballet in Connecticut (USA) for a year. Subsequently, when I decided to complete the International Journey Program at the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in Israel, it was again Martin Meng who helped me to get me a scholarship. Since May 2017 I have been working as a dancer at the Theater Chemnitz and have danced among others in works of internationally known choreographers like Ashley Lobo, Luciano Cannito, Alexander Ekman, Anthony Missen and Katarzyna Kozielska. Meanwhile, I’ve also got the opportunity to work on solo roles like Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet”, Odile in “Swan Lake” and the Sugar Plum Fairy in “The Nutcracker”. I am very grateful to know such a wonderful person and teacher as Martin Meng, who helped me keeping my head clear during my training at the ballet school, to focus on the important details in classical dance, and always pursue my goal in my mind. He always gave me the opportunity to meet many new companies and dancers and supported me in all my projects.

Maria Panova, Ballet of the State Opera Kiel

Maria Panova, Ballet of the Kiel State Opera
When at the end of 2009, Martin Meng came to the National Ballet Academy Amsterdam as a guest teacher I immediately felt that he was able to give me exactly the necessary mix of highest professionalism, discipline and sensitive individuality. For several weeks he trained our class in classical ballet, pointes, repertoire and variations. Over this period, I developed a foundation that enabled me to make a big leap in my development, without which my professional life would have been different.
I still use Martin’s corrections, which are very accurate, and they always help me to remain the ruler(master) of the situation – whether in the balletstudio or on stage.
Before I earned a degree from the prestigious Vaganova Academy in Saint-Petersburg, Martin had prepared me very elaborately for the entrance examination there, and without his support it would probably not have been possible for me to pass this most difficult test.
I then danced for 5 years in the ballet company of the Kiel State Opera. And every morning in classical training, I thought of Martin’s very simple but productive corrections that allowed me to maintain a high level of professionalism and physical awareness over the years.
I am still looking forward to having the opportunity to train with Martin and I can only recommend him for aspiring dancers, professionals, amateurs and beginners.

 

Fabian Riess, Student high school of Music and performing Arts Frankfurt
In the two years I have been taking class with Martin Meng, I went beyond what I believed to me my physical limits in terms of strength and flexibility. Further, I gained a thorough understanding about my body and a solid technique that enables me to dance in classical as well as neoclassical and contemporary styles.
Starting ballet at an age where other people are already dancing in companies, my chances of succeeding have always been slim. However recently I was singled out as the best applicant at the audition for Birgit Keil’s Ballet Academy in Mannheim and one of eight dancers amongst hundreds of for the ballet and contemporary programme in Frankfurt. None of this would have been possible without Martin’s teachings, which will stay with me for the rest of my career.