Masseur Fred van Beek passed away

On Sunday 18 June, masseur and yoga teacher Fred van Beek passed away, at the age of 93. Van Beek worked as a masseur at Dutch National Ballet for more than 20 years.

Van Beek was a masseur at Dutch National Ballet from 1971 until 1992. He was also engaged in various other projects, including his own yoga studio, which he opened in 1961 and is now considered one of Amsterdam’s oldest yoga studio’s, and Even op adem komen Fred van Beek (Catch your breath with Fred van Beek), the daily radio show at the national broadcaster NOS he started in the late 1970s . He also founded the ‘Club van honderd’ (Club of one hundred), a group of one hundred people sharing the goal to live to be one hundred years old

Mirjam Braam, former dancer of Dutch National Ballet, was regularly massaged by Van Beek throughout her dance career. She says: “Fred was a special man, with a very nice, calming and charismatic nature. I especially remember that at the end of every massage, he would snap his fingers and say, 'Fly!'. That meant we were ready to go again and ‘fly’ on the stage.”

Our thoughts go out to his family and loved ones.