Dutch National Ballet

With 80 dancers, the Dutch National Ballet is the largest dance company in the Netherlands. Some of the talented dancers in the company’s ranks come from other leading companies and/or make regular guest appearances with them.

Since 1986, the Dutch National Ballet has been a resident company of The Amsterdam Music Theatre, and the company gives over 70 performances there every year. It gives a further 25 performances a year on tour in the Netherlands and abroad. The majority of performances are accompanied by the Holland Symfonia orchestra.

The Dutch National Ballet has a varied repertoire, including full-length classical ballets, new productions of these classics, major works from the beginning of the 20th century (in particular those of George Balanchine), and contemporary works by choreographers such as Hans van Manen, Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Krzysztof Pastor, William Forsythe and David Dawson.

The Dutch National Ballet, founded in 1961 when the Amsterdams Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged, has been directed successively by Sonia Gaskell (1961 - 1969), Rudi van Dantzig (1969 - 1991), Wayne Eagling (1991 - 2003) and Ted Brandsen (since 2003). Brandsen, ex-dancer and choreographer, was artistic director of West Australian Ballet until 2002, when he returned to the Dutch National Ballet, initially as assistant artistic director and resident choreographer. He was appointed artistic director in 2003.