♦ Location: Amsterdam, North Holland – Netherlands
♦ Artistic Director: Ted Brandsen
♦ Orchestra: Dutch Ballet Orchestra
♦ Affiliated School: Dutch National Ballet Academy
♦ Founded in 1961 when Nederlands Ballet and the Amsterdams Ballet merged
Dutch National Ballet 2024-2025 Season
The Dutch National Ballet 2024-2025 season presentation last week not only announced a year full of classical and contemporary dance but a new brand identity for the Dutch National Opera & Ballet institution.
“Existing works versus new, big alongside small-scale, for the general public or for the adventurous; in our programming, we’re always searching for a good balance between all these genres and tastes.
This season, for example, we’re reviving two of our audience favorites – Don Quixote and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King – but we’re also presenting a lot of premieres. Masterpieces by leading choreographers like Hans van Manen, David Dawson, and Alexei Ratmansky, and George Balanchine’s dazzling jewel triptych Jewels, stand alongside beand-new, exciting creations by young, promising makers.
And this season, we’re showing once again that we’re further pushing the boundaries of what ballet can be.”
Ted Brandsen, Artistic Director of Dutch National Ballet
The opening program, titled “Generation Dance” showcases four choreographers whose ages may vary but whose works all celebrate the power of dance. The youngest, rising star Rena Butler, is making her Dutch debut in this program in combination with Ted Brandsen’s Classical Symphony, William Forsythe’s Blake Works I, and Hans van Manen’s Four Schumann Pieces.
The latter also appears on the “Modern Classics” Netherlands touring program alongside Alexei Ratmansky’s poetic The Fairy’s Kiss.
Ratmamsky’s Don Quixote, which was created for DNB in 2010, is one of four full-length works the company is preparing for next season. Toer van Schayk and Wayne Eagling’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King remains a Christmas-time tradition while Helen Pickett’s production of Lady Macbeth (in collaboration with director James Bonas and composer Peter Salem) will make its world premiere and Dutch debut.
How Anansi freed the stories of the world (2021), the story of the inventive mythical spider Anansi, is a performance for the entire family filled with plenty of passion, verve and humor.
Other mixed repertory programs scheduled for the Dutch National Ballet 2024-2025 season are:
- “New Moves” which, since its inception by Brandsen in 2003, challenges the dancers of Dutch National Ballet and other emerging dance makers to explore their choreographic talents.
- “Other Dances”, consisting of Jerome Robbins’ Other Dances, Brandsen’s The Chairman Dances, and David Dawson’s The Four Seasons, to be performed at the Holland Festival 2024.
- “Made in NL”, a new Dutch National Ballet Junior Company touring program which will include no fewer than three premiere works by female choreographers based in the Netherlands, including Milena Sidorova and Zoë Greten, as well as van Manen’s Visions Fugitives and Rudi van Dantzig’s pas de six from Swan Lake.
2025 also marks the 750th anniversary of the city of Amsterdam, and Dutch National Ballet will be performing Sasha Waltz’s In C. This impressive production, which treads the line between improvisation and choreography, will be performed not only by the dancers of Dutch National Ballet and the Junior Company, but also by residents of the seven districts of Amsterdam – from teenagers to seniors, and from untrained dancers to folk dancers and hiphoppers.
Source: Dutch National Ballet
Dutch National Ballet Upcoming Performances
Dutch National Ballet: Generation Dance
Dutch National Ballet: New Moves
Dutch National Ballet: Don Quixote
Dutch National Ballet: Modern Classics
Dutch National Ballet: Modern Classics
Dutch National Ballet: Modern Classics
Dutch National Ballet: Modern Classics
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