Admill Kuyler
Dance & Theatre Photographer

About Admill

 
Admill Kuyler

Hello there! I’m Admill Kuyler, a South African-born photographer and former professional ballet dancer now residing in Berlin.

I specialise in photographing performers onstage and behind the scenes.

Feel free to say hello, or keep scrolling.

RÉSUMÉ

clients/Publishers:

Ballett Zürich | Opernhaus Zürich
Staatsballett Berlin
Béjart Ballet Lausanne
Nova Fundaziun Origen
Ballett X Schwerin
Die Deutsche Bühne Theatermagazin
Badisches Staatsballett Karlsruhe
Staatstheater Kassel
Ballett Gesellschaft Hannover
Ballettschule Theater Basel
Dansons la vie ! Gala caritatif d’étoiles de la danse
Salzburger Landestheater
battleROYAL Creative Productions

Work Experience as a dancer:

Education:

Languages

English: Fluent
German: Fluent (Goethe-Zertifikat C1)
Afrikaans: Native
Brazilian Portuguese: Conversational


BIOGRAPHY

I grew up on a wine farm just outside of my birth town, Stellenbosch, in sunny South Africa.

When I was five years old I asked my mom if I may take ballet lessons. She said yes. That’s how it all started.

Me (on the left) when I started ballet at age 5.

At age 13 I went to boarding school at Pro Arte in Pretoria. At age 19 I had my first position as a professional ballet dancer at the South African Ballet Theatre in Johannesburg.

It was always my dream to be able to dance in Europe. In 2007 that dream came true: I was engaged by Prof. Birgit Keil at the Badisches Staatsballett Karlsruhe, Germany. A year later I was promoted to soloist, and then to principal dancer in the season of 2012/13.

Here I performed lead-, soloist- and character roles in numerous classical and contemporary productions by choreographers such as Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, John Cranko, Youri Vámos, Peter Breuer, Jörg Mannes, Jiří Bubeníček, Terence Kohler, Christopher Wheeldon, Peter Schaufuss, Davide Bombana, Tim Plegge, Reginaldo Oliveira and Germinal Casado.

Photos from my own career as a dancer:
(Photos ©Jochen Klenk)

I’m a curious autodidact by nature. I became more and more interested in photography during my career as a dancer, and started photographing my colleagues backstage and during performances.

I love taking photos in the theatre. It’s a fascinating world on its own, and there are so many interesting angles and lighting conditions for a photographer to play around with. But what inspires me most is the passion of the performers, both on- and offstage.

In 2019 I retired from the stage. I danced for 32 years, 19 of them professionally.

I am now a full-time freelance photographer and am simultaneously studying a degree in Graphic Design (Hons) with the Open College of the Arts (Barnsley, UK).


If you would like to get in touch, please send me an email.