Announcement of the departure of director Ted Brandsen
At the end of the 2025-2026 theatre season, Ted Brandsen (1959) will be stepping down as the director of Dutch National Ballet. Ted Brandsen will retire in 2026, following 23 years at the helm of the Amsterdam ballet company. Associate artistic director Rachel Beaujean (1959), who has been with Dutch National Ballet since 1977, will also be leaving the company at the end of the 2025-2026 theatre season, on reaching retirement age.
Louise O. Fresco, chairperson Board of Directors Dutch National Opera & Ballet:
“Under Ted Brandsen’s leadership, Dutch National Ballet has grown to be a company that is a match for the cream of the international ballet world. Through his passion and vision, he has succeeded in generating enthusiasm for dance in the Netherlands in an increasingly broad audience. The retirement of Ted and Rachel in 2026 will therefore mean an enormous change for our theatre. But precisely because Dutch National Ballet holds such a strong position, we are also looking forward with confidence to what the future will bring. We have now started recruiting a successor, and expect to announce an appointment by early next year.”
Stijn Schoonderwoerd, general director Dutch National Opera & Ballet:
“For over two decades, Ted has worked every day with heart and soul, and a steady hand, on producing excellent performance quality, expanding Dutch National Ballet’s repertoire and developing young talent. I find it extraordinary that after all these years, he is still driven by a deep-rooted belief in the significance of this art form and by an unconditional love for dancers and makers. Ted’s close collaboration with Rachel Beaujean has been important in many respects, including the high standard of the complement of dancers. And following an impressive career of 47 years with our company, her retirement, too, will certainly be a benchmark in the history of Dutch National Ballet.”
Ted Brandsen – short biography
Ted Brandsen (Kortenhoef, 1959) has been the director of Dutch National Ballet since 2003. His leadership ushered in a new heyday for the company, which now ranks among the top leading ballet companies in the world. Brandsen’s initiatives include rejuvenating the full-length repertoire, introducing new world-class choreographers, distributing performances more widely throughout the Netherlands and increasing the company’s appearances at major international venues. In 2013, in collaboration with the National Ballet Academy, he initiated the foundation of the Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company, which bridges the gap between dance training and professional practice.
As a choreographer Brandsen has created a numerous amount of works such s Body (2004), Stealing Time (2006), Raï (2013), Replay (2014), Classical Symphony (2020) as well as the full-length productions Coppelia (2008) and Mata Hari (2016).
He is also in great demand as a jury member for prestigious awards and ballet competitions and is regularly named one of the leading ballet directors worldwide by international dance journalists.
In 2014, Stichting Dansersfonds ’79 presented Brandsen with the ‘Merit Award’. And four years later, the Dansersfonds dedicated their twenty-first ballet gala to him, in recognition of his important work for Dutch National Ballet. In October 2019, the Mayor of Amsterdam Femke Halsema presented artistic director Ted Brandsen with the ‘Amsterdam Prize for Art’, in the category ‘Proven Quality’, and in June 2022 he was appointed Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion.
Rachel Beaujean – short biography
Rachel Beaujean (Helmond, 1959) has been working with Dutch National Ballet since 1977. As a dancer, Beaujean was known mainly for her interpretations of ballets by Hans van Manen, whose muse she was for many years. As an assistant to Hans van Manen, she now coordinates and organises the teaching of Van Manen’s works to international companies, some of which she teaches herself.
After her dance career she was then appointed ballet mistress with Dutch National Ballet. In 2003, Beaujean became head of the artistic staff, and has been associate artistic director of the company since 2017. In the same year, at the celebration of her fortieth anniversary with the company, she was made an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.
In recent years, Beaujean has made various adaptations of major nineteenth-century productions for Dutch National Ballet. For instance, she created her own version of Les Sylphides, a revised interpretation of Giselle(along with Ricardo Bustamante) and a dazzling new production of Paquita. In 2022, Beaujean created an entirely new version of Raymonda, a masterpiece by Marius Petipa.
For her excellence as a dancer, the Dutch Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors (VSCD) awarded Beaujean the ‘Golden Dance Theatre Award’ in 1993, and she received the ‘Merit Award’ from Dansersfonds ’79 in 1995.
