De Wereld Draait Door with 'the best Dutch dancer in the world'

When De Wereld Draait Door shows live ballet on air, there must be something going on. And indeed, dancer Marijn Rademaker announces that he has been appointed principal with the Dutch National Ballet. That's no mean feat. He is considered "the best Dutch ballet dancer in the world today".

On a lousy little studio stage, Marijn shows why he is an important dancer. He dances a duet from Fantasia by Hans van Manen that is now running in theatres. Rademaker has mastered all kinds of styles. Remarkably, he dances with that only other Dutch first soloist: Igone de Jongh. She lobbied for him to be appointed. So it is fairly unique for a Dutch dancer to become a principal. So now we have two.

It used to take a while, becoming a principal, and people sometimes wondered why anyone got this far. But with the arrival of the strong Russians, the worldwide improvement of technique and the influx of perfect, athletic bodies, becoming a principal with a top company like the Dutch National Ballet is quite an achievement. The last male Dutch dancer to succeed was Boris de Leeuw.

Rademaker trained in the Netherlands but emigrated to the Stuttgart Ballet in Germany where he made a career as a soloist. The international press praised him and he made occasional guest appearances in the Netherlands. He did so creditably in La Dame aux Camélias recently at Gala, and last year during another Dutch gala.

Rademaker will start his new job from 1 January 2015 and make his debut thereafter in February. The striking blonde dancer will undoubtedly be seen more often in the Dutch media in the near future. Speaking in front of an audience is not the greatest quality of dancers, but Marijn did an excellent job in front of the camera. Also in German. Serious dance well in contact with a large audience is therefore possible.

From the press release:

Marijn Rademaker - biography
As a little boy, Marijn Rademaker (Nijmegen, 1981) had a talent for sports and played football and tennis. His parents eventually signed him up for ballet lessons, because he was always dancing around the living room to classical music. After training at the National Ballet Academy in Amsterdam and ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Arnhem, he graduated from the dance department of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague in 2000. After completing his training, he joined Stuttgarter Ballett, where he was promoted to first soloist in 2006. Marijn won a incentive prize of the Dancers' Fund '79 and in 2012 the fund awarded him with the Special Price. Furthermore, he is winner of Der Faust (2006, for the best dancer in Germany), the German Tanzpreis (2009, Future Award) and the Premio Apuli Arte Prize (2009, Merit Award). In 2010, he was voted one of the 'Outstanding Dancers' of the 2009-2010 season. Marijn has danced leading roles in almost all major classical-romantic ballets and worked with a large number of choreographers. In 2011, Marijn made his debut as a guest soloist with the Dutch National Ballet as Prince Florimund inThe Sleeping Beauty. Since then, he has danced as a regular guest soloist in Nutcracker & Mouse King and the National Ballet's Gala programmes.

(photographer: Roman Novitzky/Stuttgart Ballet)