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Hans van Manen

Why I get nostalgic seeing Variations by Hans van Manen at the Dutch National Ballet

Why I get nostalgic seeing Variations by Hans van Manen at the Dutch National Ballet

If every ballet is about discipline, it is certainly something that applies to Hans van Manen's ballets. Discipline in the music, in the beat, in the simplicity. How ballet creates order in movement, measures space, establishes relationships: you will find it all in the works of Holland's most renowned dance maker. The six parts of the programme Variations... 

Soon - Rahi Rezvani

Dutch dance world back on stage in September with these performances

From small dance schools to big dance companies, the Dutch dance world is daring to expose itself on a stage again. Dance lovers can get back into the studios or theatres, or both, thanks to protocols, and bookings are being made enthusiastically as many performances are already sold out. After all, nothing beats dance art in the flesh. In the words of dance dramaturge Jochem Naafs: 'If you... 

A Christmas Carol by Carl Davis and The Dutch Don't Dance Division

A deep bow for Gesamtkunstwerk A Christmas Carol by Carl Davis and The Dutch Don't Dance Division

So this: 'It is not easy to compete with YouTube, Netflix and other entertainment giants lying at our fingertips...' Wise words from Jiří Kylián in the foreword to the programme booklet of A Christmas Carol. The renowned choreographer sees The Dutch Don't Dance Division at the Zuiderstrandtheater creating something magical with their latest production: with limited resources in this multimedia... 

Phenomenal ballet needs no message for Holland Festival 2019

Phenomenal ballet needs no message for Holland Festival 2019

With all the socially critical, exotic and personal life art at the Holland Festival, Van Manen, Forsythe, Arqués is actually an outlier, a statement without a message. Dance has enough on its own, expresses itself full-length. And how. Work of overwhelming quality. How much better can it get? At most by giving it a message anyway. There is room there. The rest is complete.... 

Dutch National Ballet DUTCH DOUBLES premiere 23 March 2018 Amsterdam

Wende Snijders turns ballet temple upside down in Dutch Doubles

In Dutch Doubles 2018 by the Dutch National Ballet, choreographers collaborate with other artists for the second time. The chemical reaction between Wende Snijders and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa almost blows up the formula. BAM! The audience jumps up. BAM!"It had to take 11 years for me to make something here again?", choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa seems to be saying. The Belgian/Colombian is lumbering... 

Spirit of Trump haunts press presentation National Opera & Ballet

'Before we start the actual presentation, let me give you some facts & figures,' says Els van der Plas, general director of the National Opera & Ballet. 'No, not the alternative facts,' she adds wittily. The ghost of the US president will be through the Stopera more often this afternoon. Van der Plas recalls the successes that... 

tour-of-schayk-requiem-the-national-ballet-holland-masters

Choreographer/artist Toer van Schayk is an inspired human being

The enthusiasm that characterised Toer van Schayk and his generation of choreographers is disappearing. With the programme Dutch Masters, the Dutch National Ballet is honouring an era. The success of Toer van Schayk and his generation If it is up to the public, the master ballets of the three great Van's (Rudi van Dantzig, Hans van Manen and Toer van Schayk) may stay for a while longer. As one man stood... 

Dance house Amsterdam

Amsterdam wants to, does not want a Dance House. Rotterdam makes a Dance House

The Amsterdam Fund for the Arts would love a central 'vibrant dance venue' in Amsterdam. But surely such a Dance House has just been torpedoed? It was striking: in the Introduction to Dance to the grants awarded by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK) for the 2017-2020 grant awards, they note an "ardent need" for a "dance house": a central place for development, production and the... 

dance academy royal conservatoire national ballet academy

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 the Nederlands Dans T...

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Transatlantic by the Dutch National Ballet at Holland Festival

The National Ballet's Transatlantic showcases works by four white men. Why?

In Transatlantic, the Dutch National Ballet dances works by four choreographers during the Holland Festival. They are male. They are white. They make classical ballet. Why this choice?
Transatlantic and men's choreographers
It is a recurring theme. Recently again in the UK. British/Bengali choreographer Akram Khan, also to be seen at the upcoming Holland Festival, threw caution to the wind: 'Don't promote women choreographers simply because they are women.' That earned him ...

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Rader works and rebellious emotions

Years ago, Nederlands Dans Theater profiled itself with the slogan "challenging dance". That applies well to Straight Around. This performance by youth company NDT2 premiered at Holland Dance Festival in The Hague on 18 February. The company does not immediately make things easy for its audience with the four danced pieces, but for those who know how to empathise, there is... 

National Opera and Ballet 2016-17: Back to normal

'In the new season, we go back to normal,' Pierre Audi said on Monday 15 February during the presentation of the new season of The National Opera. He does, however, continue the forward-looking Opera Forward Festival, which was set up to mark its 50th anniversary. There are also quite a few new own productions on the roll, including the world premiere of... 

AUREUM by Medhi Walerski, still from trailer

Young choreographers triumph in NDT2's 'Shearing the Wolves'

In the wings of Nederlands Dans Theater, the new generation of dance makers is ready. Medhi Walerski and Johan Inger are both former dancers of the company and have previously created pieces there. In NDT2's Shearing the Wolves programme, they each surprise with a world premiere full of intense, pure dance. In comparison, an older work by house choreographers Sol Léon and... 

Carel Kraayenhof: 'Most people think I'm inside.'

When you think of Carel Kraayenhof, you don't immediately think of a young squatter orating about Karl Marx in circle discussions. Yet protest resides in the musician, just like in the tango. This becomes apparent when the interview gets off to a brisk start.
'If anyone knows how to penetrate the soul of tango, it is Carel Kraayenhof.' Says Mike Schaperclaus, innovator with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, which is performing the production Julia in Ahoy in June. 'Everything falls into place: that's the feeling we had when we heard...

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Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images. Image editing: Kay Schuttel

Academy of Arts: core fusion of art and science

Bring 50 distinguished and cross-disciplinary artists together and things will crackle tremendously. That will be the thinking behind the new Academy of Arts. The installation of 16 new, high-profile members already gave a taste of this. Actor Gijs Scholten van Aschat (board member) and visual artist Barbara Visser (president) expressed themselves a little cautiously a while ago about what the Akademie... 

Crazy Blues dance award

Fitting conclusion of dance audience awards at DeLaMar

In a chock-full DeLaMar theatre, deputy director Robert Guijt presented the 2014 Dance Audience Award and Dance Photo of the Year on 23 February 2015. This fitted well with the festive premiere of Crazy Blues by winner International Dance Theatre. Many acquaintances from the dance world performed at the DeLaMar. 'Hans van Manen is sitting beautifully on Princess Beatrix's chair,' joked Guijt. The same... 

FADO photo Robert Benschop

Surprising winners Dance Audience Awards 2014

After a nerve-wracking final and precise evaluation of votes, the winners of the 2014 Dance Audience Award have been announced. Favourite Dance Performance is FADO from International Dance Theatre, Favourite Dancer is Merel Janssen from Introdans Ensemble for Youth.

The winners of the 2014 Oeuvre Prize and Dance Photo of the Year are also known. Artistic director Roel Voorintholt of Introdans received many entries and praise for his commitment to Dutch dance. Photographer Hans Hordijk won with ee...

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And the 2014 Dance Photo nominees are...

The Official Nominations for the first Dance Photo of the Year election have been announced. From 43 entries, Hans van Manen (choreographer) and Thomas Cott (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) compiled a top six. We couldn't think of a better jury for a preselection. Now we are curious to hear your vote. The Dance Photo of the Year election puts dance photographers and their work in the spotlight. Because. 

Questions, stillness and resistance: choreographer Nicole Beutler's new Echo and earlier work on tour in the Netherlands

5:Echo, choreographer Nicole Beutler's most recent production, is a curious show. All focus is on two famous pioneers of Dutch dance in the 60s and 70s: Ellen Edinoff and Bianca van Dillen. Yet Echo mainly shows how impossible (and perhaps undesirable) it is to want to revive past glories. Dancer Kelly... 

Rademaker_Marine

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 Hans van Manen's Fantasia, which is now running in theatres. Ra...

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Pascal Schut. Photo: Hans Gerritsen

The audience speaks: Pascal Schut and Davide Cocchiara best dancers of 2013

The winners of the Dans Publieksprijs 2013 have been announced. On Friday 14 February, the prizes, divided into seven categories, will be awarded at The Hague's Theater aan het Spui. Besides winners Pascal Schut (Introdans) and Davide Cocchiara (The Red Piece), they are choreographers Conny Jansen Danst for the performance 'How Long is Now' and Isabelle Beernaert for the performance 'Red, Yellow & Blue'.
Conny Janssen is further presented with the Oeuvre Prize for her influence on Dutch dance. The dan...

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'Pearls' at the Leiden Cloth Hall is a boundless experience

'Pearls' is an exhibition with the limitlessness, fantasy and dreamlike vistas that come with a fairy tale. Associations with the pearl roll in all directions. Those who wander around in 'Pearls' forget for a moment everything to do with sober everyday reality. Pearls appear everywhere. The works of art accompanying this exhibition are scattered among the fixed... 

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