Charm and muscle at final performance of dance courses

Overwhelming final performances from the dance departments of the Royal Conservatoire and the National Ballet Academy shed light on young talent. And at the courses themselves.

Desired synthesis between school and company

The dance department of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague gives the performances in its own theatre. A small and intimate venue where you experience dance up close. That will change in 2019: then the conservatory will move together with Nederlands Dans Theater to a large, new cultural complex on the Spui.

School and company in one house, the National Ballet Academy already knows that advantage. And its effect is impressive. The final performances take place for the first time on the massive stage of National Opera & Ballet in Amsterdam. The academy looks like a powerful institution. Especially when, at the start of the performance, batteries of dancers enter the Grand Defile.

[Tweet "Throughput of talent from dance academies to companies is vital"]

But there is also the Junior Company: a unique collaboration between the National Ballet Academy and the Dutch National Ballet. It is vitally important to get talent from the dance academies through to the companies. And as a top company, the Dutch National Ballet exerts an enormous attraction in this respect. You can see that in the academy's programme booklet: it is full of names of foreign students.

Perhaps such a successful synthesis will also come about in The Hague in 2019, in view of Nederlands Dans Theater's international allure. For young Dutch dancers, however, it is a struggle with such foreign competition. Because the bar is high.

Very high.

Final performance dance course at the Royal Conservatoire

The KC opens with a very complete divertissement from Sleeping Beauty (Esther Protzman to Petipa/Wright). It is noticeable that many boys are dancing to the training: a good sign! And the excellent performance sometimes makes it seem like you are watching a real company.

This also applies to In and Out: a timeless 1983 work by Hans van Manen and a jewel of the Dutch school to immerse yourself in as a young dancer. Like the mysterious Whereabouts Unknown by Jiří Kylián and the Studio 2 duet by Léon & Lightfoot. But truly surprising is the Spanish dance that liberates with live music and singing in the performance.

Taking the brakes off for a while is sometimes necessary.

There are also opportunities for lesser-known choreographers: teacher Katarina Wester created the jazzy Sassafras Rhap(sody) and guest lecturer Maurice Causey gets to work as a dance maker more often: his intelligent and creative I've been kissed tastes like more.

Final performance National Ballet Academy

Amsterdam tackles 'Respecting Diversity' theme Traces right away with a mix of dance styles from India to Eastern Europe. But the global unity desired by director Jean-Yves Esquerre in his speech is particularly evident in the exciting Till Then by Gioconda Barbuto. In it, the collection of different dancers forms a tight and enthusiastic collective.

Conservatoire (from 1849) is an impossibly difficult work by master choreographer August Bournonville. Incredible that an academy in this frog country with such a short ballet history can put this down so well. Choreographer David Dawson lifts in the uplifting 5 the classical ballet technique for a while over the top with a nod here and there to well-known ballet moves or poses.

The ballet fireworks are not over yet.

Three teachers made it Gottsschalk Demo. A downright spectacle in which the young talents can briefly give their calling card to companies. Finally, there is the wonderful and delicious Yondering which confirms the genius of choreographer John Neumeier. A unique opportunity for the academy to bring this work 'for students only'.

More is more

Attending final performances of dance courses two days in a row is no mean feat. Especially when the performances are extra long. (Something that is also a trend at local ballet schools.) But in a room full of ballet parents and dance teachers, bravos quickly erupt. And that's what it's all about in the end....

Names to remember?

There is no obvious Baryshnikov or Natalia Osipova running around yet. But there are definitely talents to spot like Grace Robson, Elias Boersma, Kotone Maekawa, Rei Takahashi, Toon Lobach, Khayla Fitzpatrick, Portia Adams and Gaetano Signorelli. And who knows what international dance stars will emerge through hard work!