Dutch National Ballet

Christmas Gala

A festive surprise program for the whole family

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Dates

19 & 27 December 2020

Location

Online, Online

Running time

140 minutes

Tickets

n/a

December is traditionally the month of ballet. In no other month so many people, all over the world, visit a ballet performance. This year Dutch National Ballet is organising an exuberant, festive Christmas Gala.

Enjoy this exclusive night full of famous pas de deux and new works online with the whole family and let yourself be enchanted by an abundance of Broadway glamour and wintery snowflakes.

From Nutcracker to Broadway glamour

The gala programme shows a cross-section of Dutch National Ballet's rich, versatile repertoire, with excerpts from the great ballet classics, masterpieces by international master choreographers and premieres created especially for the occasion.

The programme

As part of the programme of the Christmas Gala you will see the passionate balcony-pas de deux from Rudi van Dantzig's Romeo and Juliet and scenes from the Christmas ballet par excellence: The Nutcracker & the Mouse King, including the enchanting dance of the Snowflakes. John Cranko's Onegin shows in incredible choreographical richness a Russian love drama.

First soloists Jessica Xuan and Jakob Feyerflik will be dancing the beautiful pas de deux Grand pas classique, choreographed by Victor Gsovsky. Grandmaster George Balanchine provides a good dose of glamour, with parts from his delectable Broadway ballet Who Cares?, to the playful evergreens of composer George Gershwin.

Modern masterpieces

Hans van Manen and the British top choreographer Wayne McGregor are also represented with contemporary masterpieces and the programme also contains various surprises. Including world premieres by associate artist David Dawson and the Dutch Wubkje Kuindersma, which was included by the leading American Dance Magazine in its 'Top 25 to watch list for 2019'. First soloists Anna Tsygankova and Constantine Allen will be dancing Christopher Wheeldons amazing, intimate choreography Duet.

The presentation of this versatile evening is in the hands of Milouska Meulens. Previously she made an online mini-series with Dutch National Ballet in the run-up to our performance Frida.

[…] with of course (parts of) the Christmas ballet Nutcracker & Mouse King. This was a wonderful final piece, thanks in particular to Young Gyu Choi's ever-great jumping technique and the refined elegance of Maia Makhateli, who was recently named Dancer of the Year by Dance Europe magazine. In their great pas de deux, the dance really comes off the screen into the room..

21 December

Watching a ballet gala is like reaching for a candy jar. [...] The danced snowflakes from 'Nutcracker' created a Christmas atmosphere.

23 December

Several dancers managed to lift their performance above the bare entourage of a silent hall, with Maia Makhateli dancing best on camera with her expressive face, Anna Tsygankova with her flawless technique and Young Gyu Choi with his fiery energy.

21 December

Orchestra: Dutch Ballet Orchestra

Conducted by Matthew Rowe

Since its inception in 1965, the orchestra has been proud to accompany its partners, Dutch National Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater. The working method is unique in the Netherlands

Dutch Ballet Orchestra

Dutch Ballet Orchestra, with Matthew Rowe as principal conductor, consists of a regular core of 45 musicians, supported where necessary by highly qualified guest performers. This gives the orchestra its unique character: flexible, dynamic and high-quality.

More about Dutch Ballet Orchestra