Jan Hofstra

Jan Hofstra joined Dutch National Ballet in 1965, and worked at the company for 32 years, first as a technician and later as chief technical officer. He worked with well-known choreographers and designers such as Sir Peter Wright, Rudi van Dantzig, Hans van Manen, Toer van Schayk, Heinz Spoerli, Edouard Lock, Jean-Paul Vroom, Keso Dekker and Jan van der Wal. He also provided the lighting designs for a large number of Balanchine works that were - and still are - performed at Dutch National Ballet.

Since 1986, Hofstra was mainly active as a lighting designer. He collaborated most often with Hans van Manen, together with whom he has worked at ballet companies all over the world. Since 1994, Hofstra has also provided the lighting for a large number of exhibitions at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. In 2001, he was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau and, in 2008, he received the ‘Prijs van Verdienste’ of the Dansersfonds ’79.