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Ted Brandsen

Choreographer Ernst Meisner: 'What works for me is an empty studio where I turn on the music at night and walk around for a hundred hours'

by Eline Crijns
2 June 202130 March 2022
9 min read
For members only, DANS, PODIUM ART, APPRECIATE & DONATE!

Choreographer Ernst Meisner (1982) is artistic coordinator of the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company and artistic director of the National Ballet Academy. As a former dancer, he knows that you have to get out of the rehearsal studio, onto the stage. That's why he makes sure his dancers and dancers-in-training keep dancing in front of an audience as much as possible, even if the performances are online because of corona. 'I...

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Online magic is possible. Audiences wear online Christmas gala of the Dutch National Ballet on their hands

by Ruben Brugman
20 December 202030 March 2022
4 min read
For members only, DANS, BECOME A MEMBER

Can you experience magic at home the way the Dutch National Ballet promises with its online stream of the Christmas Gala? If the comments during the stream are to be believed: yes.

Dutch dance world back on stage in September with these performances

by Ruben Brugman
20 August 202021 August 2020
4 min read
DANS, PODIUM ART, APPRECIATE & DONATE!

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...

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Forget KLM and Booking: even in the subsidised arts, directors are big earners.

by Ingrid van Frankenhuyzen
24 May 202020 September 2020
7 min read
ACTUAL, BECOME A MEMBER

Just like in the world outside culture (call it capitalism), in the cultural sector itself you also see a huge payment gap between creators and 'the plush'. Only you can't talk about that taboo without being seen as a traitor.

Frida, indringende beelden van een gekwelde ziel. Of andersom.

Full-length classical ballet Frida once again creates the Annabelle effect

by Ruben Brugman
10 February 202030 March 2022
4 min read
For members only, DANS, PODIUM ART, BECOME A MEMBER

How many female choreographers do you know who create a full-length ballet for a top classical ballet company? - I thought. Before going to Frida, I get word that a Latin American young woman has been hospitalised. Loss of a lot of blood, and unborn child. The cheerful girl I know weakly raises a thumb from the hospital bed on WhatsApp....

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What is it with the dance sector in Amsterdam? Another dance production house is being deprived of subsidies.

by Maarten Baanders
26 February 201929 March 2022
5 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, DANS, PODIUM ART

Is production house Dansmakers Amsterdam losing its housing? Together with other institutions in the dance sector, it has made every effort to align and further develop the whole spectrum of dance facilities in Amsterdam. In 2018, for example, the joint plan Danswerf was developed and submitted as an application for a two-year development grant to the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK)...

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Spirit of Trump haunts press presentation National Opera & Ballet

by Thea Derks
21 February 20178 March 2017
4 min read
DANS, OPERA

'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...

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

by Ruben Brugman
16 August 201614 August 2017
6 min read
ACTUAL, DANS, PODIUM ART

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...

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These are the winners of the Swans 2016. Or not.

by Ruben Brugman
28 July 201630 March 2022
3 min read
ACTUAL, For members only, DANS, PODIUM ART

Three dancers and three dance productions have been nominated for Swans 2016. On Friday 7 October, Daphne Bunskoek and Art Rooijakkers will announce who the winners are during the Nederlandse Dansdagen's Opening Programme 2016 in Maastricht. But you can already draw a few conclusions from the list of nominees.

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National Opera and Ballet 2016-17: Back to normal

by Thea Derks
15 February 201616 February 2016
3 min read
ACTUAL, DANS, MUSIC, OPERA

'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...

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Het Nationale Ballet - Empire Noir - photo Angela Sterling A0146

Cool Britannia: fine coalition of British choreography talent

by Ruben Brugman
18 June 201520 February 2017
4 min read
DANS, Holland Festival, SPECIALS

Got that. Do I get increasingly impressed during the National Ballet's evening Cool Britannia, turns out it's not that good at all. Because connoisseurs react lukewarmly afterwards. Am I that dumb, or are they that smart? There is actually very little British about Cool Britannia. Except that the choreographers are from there. An obvious...

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Het Nationale Ballet - La Dame aux Camelias - foto Angela Sterling 0474

Collective adoration at La Dame aux Camélias - Check it out!

by Ruben Brugman
17 April 20153 May 2015
4 min read
DANS

The only thing really old-fashioned about La Dame aux Camélias is the cheering applause, as if you were in Milan's Scala. And it's not even premiere night. Director Ted Brandsen did a hit with this classic with the Dutch National Ballet. We have proof of it. With Periscope.

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

by Ruben Brugman
17 October 201430 March 2022
3 min read
ACTUAL, For members only

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".

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Opinion: 'Let Joop van den Ende take classical ballet under his wing, merge Nederlands Dans Theater, Nationale Ballet and Scapino Ballet.'

by one of our members
5 May 20118 July 2016
4 min read
ACTUAL

It was predictable. Now that the Culture Council has given the secretary of state a go-ahead for massive and very deep cuts in dance, the first press releases are appearing with the outraged reactions. The National Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater are aggrieved: 'How

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