Nederlands Dans Theatre
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Nederlands Dans Theater (Dutch Dance Theatre also known as the NDT) is a contemporary dance company established in 1959 breaking away from a more traditionally oriented ballet company. The company, NDT, focused on the exploration of new forms of dance, using new techniques and open to new ideas and experimentation.
The Nederlands Dans Theater was founded by Benjamin Harkarvy, Aart Verstegen and Carel Birnie. And a group of 18 members of the former Het Nederlands Ballet (which was directed by Sonia Gaskell. This first group dancers included: Willy de la Bije, Aart Verstegen, Jaap Flier, Pepita Goedemans, Mabel Alter; Hannie van Leeuwen; Annemarie Verhoeven; Alexandra Radius, ; Olga Dzialiner; Martinette Janmaat; Marianne Westerdijk, Hans van Manen; Rudi van Dantzig; Charles Czarny, Gérard Lemaître, Hans vd Togt and Han Ebbelaar.
Manny of the first NDT-dancers still have their mark on the Dutch ballet/dance scene knowadays. Most famous are probably: Hans van Manen and Rudi van Dantzig. Gérard Lemaître was being Knighted in the Order of Oranje Nassau by the Dutch Queen Beatrix Lemaître finished dancing in 1982 but made a special return to the NDT as dancer of the NDT III company till 2006. And Charles Czarny, Martinette Janmaat and Mabel Alter became well known balletteachers at the conservatoires and dance academies in Rotterdam and Amsterdam For several years Martinette Janmaat was artistic director for the Contemporary dance department at the Nationale Ballet Academy in Amsterdam.
Harkarvy was with NDT for 10 years where he was choreographer and artistic co-director (with Hans van Manen) until 1969. He went on to be the co-director of the Dutch National Ballet and from 1992 he became the director of the Dance Division of The Juilliard School in New York. In 1975, Jiří Kylián was appointed as artistic director, and over nearly twenty years, brought unprecedented recognition and success to NDT.
Since January 2004 Anders Hellström is the Artistic Director of Nederlands Dans Theater. The Swedish Anders Hellström (Stockholm, 1962) received his education at the Royal Ballet School in Sweden. He danced a.o. with the Royal Swedish Ballet and the Hamburg Ballet He is responsible for the international break through of the Göteborg Ballet in Sweden, as their artistic director. He also introduced contemporary choreographers such as William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato and Ohad Naharin in Gothenburg.
Resident choreographers of the Nederlands Dans Theater since 2002 are the choreographers duo: Lightfoot León. Since 2003 Paul Lightfoot is also artistic adviser of the Nederlands Dans Theater, alongside Jiří Kylián. Paul Lightfoot and Sol León met as dancers with Nederland Dans Theater I in 1987.
Nederlands Dans Theater consists of three companies: NDT I, the main company of 32 dancers; NDT II, a group of 12 young dancers up to the age of 21 and with its own repertory, and NDT III, a small group of dancers of 40+ years. The dancers all have solo qualities and are not divided into categories. Besides works of Jiri Kylián and Lightfoot León the NDT is performing choreographies by a.o. Jacopo Godani, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek and William Forsythe.
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