Hans van Manen timeline
Hans van Manen has created over 150 choreographies, including his television ballets. His work is performed by more than 100 dance companies worldwide. This timeline provides an overview of his life and his most significant works. For a complete list of all his choreographies, click here.
2010-2019
2010
Success in Hongkong
In March 2010, the ballet audience in Hong Kong is also introduced to the work of Van Manen. At the invitation of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Dutch National Ballet performs to full houses at both the Grand Theatre and the Sha Tin Town Hall, in Hong Kong. The programme comprises Adagio Hammerklavier, Concertante, Sarcasmen, Trois gnossiennes and Live. All the performances are sold out.
‘Words fail’
In October 2010, Dutch National Ballet adds a new masterpiece by Van Manen to the repertoire: Without Words, to Goethe-lieder by the Austrian composer Hugo Wolf (without the accompanying words by Goethe). During this first series of performances, the ballet is accompanied live on the piano by pianist, composer and conductor Reinbert de Leeuw.
Watch Henk van Dijk's beautiful documentary capturing the creation process of Without Words here.
2011
'One of the very best'
Following a tour of the Netherlands with Hans van Manen – Master of Dance, Dutch National Ballet presents the same programme (Adagio Hammerklavier, Solo, Grosse Fuge and Concertante) at Sadler's Wells Theatre, in London, in May 2011. “In a world crying out for even below-mediocre ballet choreographers, the Dutch old master Hans van Manen is an extraordinarily well-kept secret (..) He is one of the very best, as a long-overdue exhibition of his ballets at Sadler’s Wells this week shows (..) we need to see much more of him here", writes the website TheArtsDesk.
2012
Variations for Two Couples
In February 2012, to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Dutch National Ballet presents the double programme Present/s, comprising no fewer than nine new creations by internationally successful choreographers. One of the highlights, if not the crowning glory of the double programme, is Van Manen’s Variations for Two Couples. For the work, he took inspiration from two couples, each with their own special qualities. The first couple is lyrical and really excels in adagio work, and the second is fiery and virtuoso. “But it never becomes a competition”, the choreographer stressed on the eve of the premiere. “I don’t like that at all. For me, it’s all about the personalities of the dancers that I want to bring out. Although sometimes I turn the roles around a bit. Then I let the lyrical dancers be virtuoso and I try to get the virtuoso couple to dance as ‘inwardly’ as possible.”
‘The beauty of a keyhole cut with extreme precision’
On 4 July 2012, Hans van Manen’s 80th birthday (on 11 July) is celebrated with a gala performance. The programme comprises many of his works, including his most recent creation: Variations for Two Couples. The gala programme book contains 80 quotes about the grand master.
A small selection:
2013
Trois gnossiennes at the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander
During the royal water pageant around the IJ, in Amsterdam, on the occasion of the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander, on 30 April 2013, principal dancers with Dutch National Ballet Igone de Jongh and Casey Herd perform Trois gnossiennes, one of Van Manen’s most frequently performed ‘ballets for two’.
Oscar of Dance
In May 2013, Van Manen receives the Prix Benois de la Danse for ‘best choreographer’ for his Variations for Two Couples, created in 2012. He is presented with the prize at the award gala at the Bolshoi Theatre, in Moscow, where the ballet is performed as well. The Benois de la Danse is the most prestigious international dance award, and is therefore also known as the ‘Oscar of Dance’.
Patron of the Dutch National Ballet Academy
At the end-of-year performance by the Dutch National Ballet Academy, at the end of the 2012/2013 season, Van Manen is appointed patron of the academy, which is affiliated to Dutch National Ballet. For the occasion, students from the academy dance Van Manen’s Trois gnossiennes. Ted Brandsen, artistic director of Dutch National Ballet, is appointed artistic advisor to the academy at the same time as Van Manen’s appointment.
2014
Last premiere work for Dutch National Ballet
In April and May 2014, Dutch National Ballet presents the first edition of Dutch Doubles, in which well-known choreographers enter into collaboration with artists from other disciplines. For his contribution, Van Manen, who is 81 at the time, casts his eye on the 24-year-old harpist Remy van Kesteren, which results in Dances with Harp. Because, says Van Manen, “I just have a good nose for nice people. I heard him playing at a living room concert about a year and a half ago, and I thought he was like a racing driver on the harp: the power of his playing and the multitude of timbres. It was as if I was at the circuit at Zandvoort watching the most beautiful Ferraris go past.”
Fame in Russia
At the Dance Open Festival in St Petersburg, at the end of April 2014, Dutch National Ballet presents the Hans van Manen programme Master of Movement. Two months later, the renowned Mariinsky Ballet, in St Petersburg, takes four Van Manen works into its repertoire, on the initiative of artistic director Yuri Fateyev: Adagio Hammerklavier, 5 Tangos, Solo and Variations for Two Couples. Fateyev says he is “very proud and honoured” that his company is allowed to dance Van Manen’s work for the first time (even though Mariinsky star dancers Ulyana Lopatkina and Ilya Kuznetsov had previously danced Van Manen’s Trois gnossiennes – outside the company), calling it “a historic moment for ballet in Russia”. The British newspaper Financial Times writes, “The Dutch choreographer's austere aesthetic strikes a chord with the Mariinsky Ballet (..) the company would do well to devote more resources to it.”
Alltag: 'a prècis of the artist’s life'
In October 2014, Van Manen’s last completely new creation is premiered. He makes Alltag for three young dancers from the German company Ballett am Rhein and its artistic director Martin Schläpfer, who performs in it as a dancer again, for the first time in years. Shortly after the premiere, Van Manen talks about the decision to take on this adventure together and thus add one further work to his repertoire. “He wanted it and I wanted it, so I created one more work for him.” About Alltag, Schläpfer says, “My role in the ballet is that of choreographer. I dance, I explore, I try out movements, I stop and I sit on a chair to think. Secretly, I think the ballet is actually about Hans himself. But I don’t know whether I should say that. Hans really hates interpretation.”
2015
Society of Arts
In May 2015, Van Manen becomes a member of the prestigious Dutch Society of Arts. He and choreographer Conny Janssen, who is selected for membership at the same time, are the first representatives from the field of dance to join the organisation since its foundation in 2014. The society’s aim is to ‘interpret the voice of the arts in Dutch society (including politics) and promote the interaction between the arts themselves, between art and society, and between science and art’. Nowadays, the Society of Arts has more representatives from the field of dance. Besides Van Manen and Janssen, they are choreographers Krisztina de Châtel, Alida Dors, Guy Weizman and Roni Haver, and dancer Igone de Jongh.
2016
Refusing an award again
In June 2016, the Dutch newspapers pay a lot of attention to the fact that Van Manen, then aged 83, refuses an award offered to him on behalf of the Turkish state. The Turkish State Opera and Ballet had wanted to reward him one month later, at the international ballet festival of Istanbul, with the honorary title ‘Choreographer of the Century’. However, recent developments in the country in the areas of human rights and freedom of the press make Van Manen decide not to accept. “As long as newspapers are being gagged in Turkey and journalists doing their job end up in prison, I can’t accept this award”, Van Manen tells the Turks. The arrest of the Turkish-Dutch columnist Ebru Umar in April 2016 is an important factor in his decision. “Ballet is funded by the Turkish state. I can’t view the award in isolation from that fact.”
Incidentally, the award comes as a surprise to the choreographer. “I’ve never even been to Turkey.” The Turkish State Opera and Ballet had, however, previously danced his 5 Tangos. Mehmet Balkan, principal choreographer of the company, says he is sad about Van Manen’s refusal, but he understands it. “Hans has explained his point of view. We hope we can still work with him in other ways in the future. His contribution to dance is invaluable.”
Grand Prix à la Carrière
One month later, on 31 July 2016, Van Manen is presented with the Grand Prix à la Carrière in the French city of Cannes, for his ‘exceptionally prominent career’. In their report, the jury say, “Over the past decades, his extensive and varied oeuvre has had a far-reaching influence on the development of modern ballet in Europe.”
2017
Hooray for Hans
Already at the beginning of 2017, the youth ensemble of Introdans (now disbanded) celebrates Van Manen’s 85th birthday (on 11 July of that year), by presenting a tribute programme with the wonderful title HOORAY FOR HANS. The programme comprises three highlights of the Arnhem-based group’s Van Manen repertoire: Squares, In and Out and Black Cake, to which Van Manen’s hilarious Zondag is added especially for the opening night. “Abstract Van Manens also a success with children”, reads the headline in the Dutch magazine Theaterkrant.
Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
In the summer of 2017, the French Ministry of Culture confers the distinction of Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres on Hans van Manen. Van Manen is presented with the high honour in Montpellier, in the south of France, by Brigitte Lefèvre, former artistic director of Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris, in the presence of Jet Bussemaker, Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science, among other dignitaries. For the occasion, Dutch National Ballet dances two programmes of Van Manen works at the Montpellier Danse festival, which is taking place at the same time.
Ode to the Master
In September 2017, Dutch National Ballet celebrates Van Manen’s 85th birthday with the programme Ode to the Master, comprising some regularly performed Van Manen works, as well as the Dutch National Ballet premiere of his On the Move, which he created in 1992 for Nederlands Dans Theater. Especially for the opening night on 15 September – which is attended by King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima – Ode to the Master is expanded by Van Manen’s last choreographic work, Alltag, which he created in 2014 for choreographer and artistic director Martin Schläpfer and dancers of his company, Ballett am Rhein. "Ode to the Master is a treat of a performance (..) The four dance works are constructed with such precision – Van Manen’s trademark – that you cannot miss a single step”, writes the Dutch weekly De Groene Amsterdammer.
‘Like a thunderstorm on a sun-drenched day’
Van Manen’s ‘shower of prizes’ goes on and on. In October 2017, at the Nederlandse Dansdagen in Maastricht, he is presented with the VSCD Oeuvre Prize. The board of the VSCD (the Dutch Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors) writes, “For over sixty years already, Hans van Manen has been choreographing trailblazing works that have given an important impulse to the development of dance in the Netherlands and abroad. His influence is indelible. Van Manen’s work harks back to the essence of what dance is: simple, powerful and pure; an art form that touches the soul. He has brought love – with all its passions and tensions – to the stage, often with humour. The clear lines are broken through, like a thunderstorm on a sun-drenched day.”
2018
Royal honour
On 19 February 2018, Van Manen receives the Honorary Medal for Arts and Science of the Order of the House of Orange. The distinction is conferred on people of exceptional merit in the fields of art and science. The associated decorations are presented to him at Noordeinde Palace, The Hague, by King Willem-Alexander, in the presence of Princess Beatrix and Queen Máxima.
2019
‘Sensations of happiness, beauty and melancholy’
On 12 April 2019, Van Manen’s Dances with Piano premieres with the Germany company Ballett am Rhein. The ballet is an adaptation of Dances with Harp, which Van Manen created in 2014 for Dutch National Ballet. Not only is the harp replaced by the piano in the new version – lending a totally new character to the ballet – but Van Manen has also radically revised the two sections for three male dancers, set to two of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. This is because he had envisaged ‘choreographic fireworks’ and subsequently thought there wasn’t enough ‘bang’ in the sections. So in Dances with Piano, the two male trios have an even stronger and more dazzling individuality. “Because”, says Van Manen, “it had to be clear that they have nothing to do with the rest of the choreography. And yet...”
Trois gnossiennes at Paris Opéra
Less than a week later, on 18 April 2019, Van Manen’s Trois gnossiennes premieres with the Ballet de l'Opéra national de Paris, at the beautiful 19th-century Palais Garnier. It is the first time that the prestigious French company adds a work by Van Manen to its repertoire. Van Manen’s ballet is combined with two works by Sol León and Paul Lightfoot.
Shanghai
In November 2019, Dutch National Ballet enjoys great success at the Shanghai International Arts Festival with four all-time favourites from the Van Manen repertoire. At two performances in the Shanghai Grand Theatre, the company performs Adagio Hammerklavier, Kleines Requiem, Sarcasmen and 5 Tangos. “For me, he represents the highest we can do in our art form, because he makes dance speak in a way that only dance can speak, not in words”, artistic director Ted Brandsen says beforehand to the newspaper China Daily, which brands the performances as “One of the most anticipated projects on the program of the China Shanghai International Arts Festival this year”.
