The history of Dutch National Ballet

On the occasion of Dutch National Ballet’s 20th anniversary, the three resident choreographers each create a new work: Onder mijne voeten (Rudi van Dantzig), I Hate You Too, Johnny (Toer van Schayk) and the still regularly performed 'ballet for two' Sarcasmen (Hans van Manen), which was danced in inimitable style at the premiere by principal dancers Rachel Beaujean and Clint Farha.

Toer van Schayk also creates his first full-length ballet: Landscape. After Van Dantzig’s Romeo and Juliet, this is the second full-length work by a Dutch choreographer. In the kaleidoscopic, often surrealist dance spectacle, Van Schayk holds a mirror up to his audience. In a peaceful Dutch river landscape, he shows images of war, oppression, commercial science, and environmental pollution. 

Another important addition to the repertoire is Hans van Manen’s Grosse Fuge, originally created for Nederlands Dans Theater in 1971, when it was immediately proclaimed the “most interesting European ballet of the decade”. Today, Grosse Fuge is still one of the master choreographer’s most often performed works worldwide.

This season, Dutch National Ballet adds its first ballet to the repertoire by Bronislava Nijinska, the sister of the legendary dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky. Nijinska created Les Biches in 1924 for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, when she danced the role of the hostess herself. Les Biches is taught to Dutch National Ballet by her daughter, Irina Nijinska.

A big crowd-puller this season is the Hans van Manen programme performed at Theater Carré, comprising In and Out, Adagio Hammerklavier and four of his five Pianovariaties: Sarcasmen, Trois gnossiennes, Pose and Portrait (the latter work is performed by guest dancer Pauline Daniëls, for whom Van Manen had created this solo a few months earlier).

Dutch National Ballet achieves record figures (audiences of 19,915) with a series of performances of Rudi van Dantzig’s Romeo and Juliet, specially adapted for performance in the round at Theater Carré. The first night is danced by Alexandra Radius ("a phenomenal interpretation of Juliet") and Henny Jurriëns (“a balanced, mature, serious interpretation”). However, most of the attention this time is directed at the young couple Jane Lord – just recently promoted to soloist – and Barry Watt.

Van Dantzig’s new, controversial ballet Want wij weten niet wat wij doen also draws great attention. The ballet includes a ‘Christ figure’, danced by Clint Farha, and a major role for the current artistic director Ted Brandsen as Adam, the first human. It sketches a bleak yet very impressive picture of how we humans deal with the world and one another.

Dutch National Ballet adds its 20th Balanchine ballet to the repertoire: Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. “A duet like a fresh spring breeze; playful, spirited, brilliant and high-speed (..) excellently danced with great bravura by Caroline Iura and Fred Berlips”, writes NRC Handelsblad. 

With the ambitious Bacchanten, artistic director Rudi van Dantzig underlines his preference for experiment. For this production, he invites stage director Gerardjan Rijnders to come and create a large-scale, oppressive and totally unique adaptation of Euripides' famous satirical tragedy, along with composer Boudewijn Tarenskeen and dramaturge Janine Brogt, assisted by choreographer Ted Brandsen.

On the occasion of leaving the Stadsschouwburg, Van Dantzig creates the male duet Afzien, for principals Han Ebbelaar and Francis Sinceretti. The latter is ending his dancing career with this performance. For the final Stadsschouwburg programme, Toer van Schayk creates his masterpiece 7th Symphony, which is awarded the VSCD Choreography Prize less than a year later. The ballet still receives standing ovations today. 

For the joint official opening performance, Toer van Schayk creates Zoals Orpheus, which forms a double bill with Otto Ketting’s Ithaka, presented by De Nederlandse Opera. Two days later, Dutch National Ballet presents its own opening programme, comprising a new work by Hans van Manen, Opening, and revivals of 7th Symphony by Van Schayk and Collective Symphony by Van Dantzig, Van Manen and Van Schayk. 

In April 1987, the company takes Frederick Ashton’s full-length Cinderella into the repertoire, set to the composition of the same name by Sergei Prokofiev, with sets and costumes by David Walker. The ballet quickly becomes one of Dutch National Ballet’s big audience favourites. At the premiere, the main roles are danced by soloists Jane Lord and Wim Broeckx, who at the time are actually in love in real life, which lends extra magic to their performance. “A delightful ballet classic”, in the view of Het Parool.

On 18 May 1987, Dutch National Ballet takes part in the opening event of Amsterdam Cultural Capital of Europe 1987. In Theater Carré, Hans van Manen’s iconic video ballet Live is presented, attended by Queen Beatrix, Prince Claus and the Ministers of Culture from various European countries. At the same time, the audience in the Music Theatre can see the ballet on a large video wall through a digital connection. Afterwards, Van Manen’s ballets Corps and Symphonieën der Nederlanden will be danced in the Music Theatre.

The first completely Dutch Swan Lake, with choreography by Rudi van Dantzig and sets and costumes by Toer van Schayk (who also choreographs the Act 3 character dances) premieres on 31 March 1988. Despite initially mixed press reviews, the production soon comes to be regarded as one of the important milestones in Dutch dance history. The headline in De Volkskrant reads, “Van Dantzig’s Swan Lake is the most beautiful to date”.

The American modern choreographer Carolyn Carlson, who works in Paris, creates Shamrock, a full-length work for 34 dancers of Dutch National Ballet, to specially written music by the famous film composer Gabriel Yared. NRC Handelsblad describes the production as having, “a very subtle, clear movement style, an often poetic and almost fragile atmosphere and a marvellous power of expression in surrealist images and situations”. 

Another striking premiere this season is Bread Dances by Édouard Lock, the figurehead of the newest dance sensation in Canada at the time: the distinctive LaLaLa Human Steps. "A sublime ballet (..) The sharpness, precision and capriciousness of the dancing borders on the incredible”, writes Trouw. 

An audience favourite right from the start is Maguy Marin’s Groosland, also known as the ‘fatties ballet’, due to the costumes by Casanova, which make the dancers appear naked and grossly overweight. “A delightful, cleverly constructed work with a candid playfulness seldom seen in dance any more”, writes NRC Handelsblad.

In March 1989, Sir Peter Wright’s The Sleeping Beauty has its first performance in the Music Theatre (now Dutch National Opera & Ballet). The choreographer and the designer Philip Prowse adapt their 1981 production for the much larger stage dimensions of the new theatre.

The most important premiere this season is Toer van Schayk’s Requiem, set to Mozart’s music of the same name. The first run of performances is accompanied by the Nederlands Theaterkoor and four vocal soloists, alongside Dutch Ballet Orchestra.

Straight after the premiere, Anton Koolhaas writes in Vrij Nederland that the work is “a major acquisition for Dutch National Ballet”. 

On the occasion of the 1991 Holland Festival, Dutch National Ballet presents part 2 of Artifact, the company’s first work by William Forsythe, one of the greatest dance innovators of the 20th century. Two years later, the company adds the complete ballet to its repertoire. Algemeen Dagblad describes the work as “masterly, overwhelming and impalpable”. 

In the same edition of the Holland Festival, the company also dances the world premiere of Pyrrhische Dansen IV (the fourth part of a series of works by Van Schayk) and the Dutch premiere of Bronislava Nijinska's masterpiece Les Noces.