Martin J. Meng was educated at the High School of the Arts in his native town Amsterdam, by a.o. professor Heinz Manniegel. His career as a dancer (Dutch National Ballet, Amsterdam/The National Ballet of Canada, Toronto/Deutsche Oper Berlin) as well as numerous courses, like taking part in classes with the Kirov Ballet gave Mr. Meng many opportunities to learn from some of the best teachers: most notably the Russian Vaganova School from Vladilen Semionov, Irina Kolpakova, Yevgeny Neff, Gennady Selyutski (Kirov Ballet), Mikhail Lavrovsky (Bolshoi Ballet), Prof. Mikhail Gawrikow and the neoclassical energetic style of George Balanchine with John Clifford, Suzanne Farrell, Susan Hendl (New York City Ballet), Reuven Vooremberg (Het Nationale Ballet, Amsterdam) and Brigitte Thom (Deutsche Oper Berlin). Also the Bournonville School (Hans Brenaa, Eva Kloborg, Peter Schaufuss) is yet another form of classical dance that Mr. Meng has been exposed to.
as dancer
as ballet master
Martin J. Meng started his career as a ballet master at the “Grand Theatre” (Teatr Wielki), Warsaw, where besides teaching daily company classes, he was coaching all leading roles in the classical repertoire (ballets like, for example, Konstantin Sergeyevs production of “Swan Lake”, or Sir Frederick Ashtons “La Fille mal Gardée”).
After he continued to work as a guest-teacher with companies like the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Finnish National Ballet (coaching the leading roles in Rudolf Nureyevs “Nutcracker”) as well as modern companies like the Choreographic Theatre of Johann Kresnik at the Berliner Volksbühne or the Toss-Dancecompany in Hanover.
Martin J. Meng has taught every level of classical ballet, from beginners, professional students up to international stars like Irma Nioradze, Andrei Jakovlev (Kirov Ballet), Maria Bylova, Yuri Vasuchenko (Bolshoi Ballet), Irek Mukhamedov (Royal Ballet), Anneli Alhanko, Anders Nordström (Royal Swedish Ballet), Mats and Niklas Ek, Ana Laguna (Cullberg Ballet).