Dates

8-29 Jun 2022

Location

Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Auditorium

Running time

See duration below

Tickets

Not available

Hans van Manen festival

Tribute to the grandmaster of Dutch ballet

In 2007, the Hans van Manen Festival, organised by Dutch National Ballet for the occasion of Van Manen’s seventy-fifth birthday, was the highlight of the theatre season. This summer, Van Manen will turn ninety, and once again the international dance world is coming together to pay homage to the grand master of Dutch ballet.

This year, a total of eight dance companies and ensembles are taking part in the festival:

Leading dance companies from the Netherlands and abroad

This year, a total of eight dance companies and ensembles are taking part in the festival: the Wiener Staatsballett, Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg, the Stuttgarter Ballett, Nederlands Dans Theater 1, Nederlands Dans Theater 2, Introdans and, of course, Dutch National Ballet and the Junior Company. Together, they will present a cross-section of the extensive Van Manen repertoire. The programme also includes a Dutch premiere: Ballett am Rhein is dancing Dances with Piano, an adaptation of Dances with Harp, which Van Manen created for our company in 2014.

 

Groundbreaking

The Stuttgarter Ballett will dance Van Manen's Solo: his shortest masterpiece, which is nothing short of wonderful and the Wiener Staatsballett is performing an early Van Manen work: Four Schumann Pieces, originally created for The Royal Ballet in London. Nederlands Dans Theater is presenting one early work and one later one by Van Manen: NDT 1 is dancing his groundbreaking Situation from 1970 and NDT 2 will shine in Simple Things.

 

Colourful ‘evergreens’

Introdans and the Junior Company will be adding a colourful touch, with, respectively, Polish Pieces and In the Future – two evergreens, in which an important role is played by the colourful costumes by Van Manen’s regular designer Keso Dekker. Dutch National Ballet will be dancing no fewer than eleven ballets by the master choreographer, ranging from an early work like Metaforen to internationally successful ‘classics’ like Grosse Fuge, Adagio Hammerklavier and 5 Tangos. But the programme will also include later works like Concertante, Two Pieces for HET and Frank Bridge Variations.

Credits

4 unique programmes with 19 groundbreaking pieces

Music
Louis Andriessen, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, David Byrne, Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, Henryk Mikolaj Górecki, Joseph Haydn, Guy Klucevsek & Alan Bern, Frank Martin, Carlos Micháns, Frederic Mompou, Arvo Pärt, Astor Piazzolla, Robert Schumann, Erkki- Sven Tüür, Peteris Vasks, Jacob ter Veldhuis and Heitor Villa-Lobos

Musical accompaniment
Dutch National Ballet Orchestra conducted by Matthew Rowe and Jonathan Lo
Carel Kraayenhof Ensemble

8 companies celebrate Hans van Manen's 90th birthday

HVMF

Various programmes

During the Hans van Manen Festival, various choreographies will be performed by different dance companies and ensembles. Click on the link below for an overview of all programmes and more information on the choreographies.

Introduction Hans van Manen Festival

Hans van Manen pre trailer
reviews

The extremely classically shaped Smirnova launches herself as a beautiful new Van Manen dancer and loads every pose with restrained tension and earthy emotionality.

10 June

Hans van Manen never gets boring"

"Van Manen’s ballets show self-confident people, bold, tough and sexy.

9 June

His jewels are behind him: the dancers of the Dutch National Ballet, who show how a Van Manen comes into his own in his timeless, musical classics.

12 June

Trailer - Programme I - Hans van Manen Festival

Trailer - Hans van Manen Festival

Trailer - Programme II - Hans van Manen Festival

Trailer - Programme II - Hans van Manen Festival

TRAILER - PROGRAMME III - HANS VAN MANEN FESTIVAL

Trailer 3

TRAILER - PROGRAMME IV - HANS VAN MANEN FESTIVAL

TRAILER - PROGRAMME IV - HANS VAN MANEN FESTIVAL

Hans van Manen Festival - Behind the Scenes

Hans van Manen Festival Behind the Scenes

Podcast - Hans van Manen Festival

Lin van Ellinckhuijsen in conversation with Henk van Dijk, videographer from 1975 to 2018 with Dutch National Ballet and partner of Hans van Manen.

About working and living together with Hans van Manen.

Concertante
Concertante
Situation
Situation
Polish Pieces
Polish Pieces
Grosse Fuge
Grosse Fuge
Floor Eimers

Floor Eimers' thoughts on Concertante

“Hans’ choreographies always make me feel like the ultimate dancer. I am able to portray who I am as an artist, but am also given the space to just be Floor. This is certainly the case with Concertante: it brings out the best in you. The movements are very powerful, enabling the dancer to be in excellent form on stage. My partner and I have to find a flow that’s just right and that Hans is happy with. This means we are very attuned to one another: we look around, covertly catch each other's eye and make sure all of our movements are in sync. This creates dramatic tension on stage, which we experience together – between the two of us and with the entire group.”

Read more about dancers' thoughts on the Van Manen repertoire here!

A festive year packed with Hans van Manen initiatives

This year is a festive one as it is the year that Hans van Manen will celebrate his ninetieth birthday. Various initiatives have therefore been taken to honour the grandmaster of Dutch ballet, including the Hans van Manen Festival, a documentary series, an exhibition and a book!

Balletorkest

Dutch National Ballet Orchestra

conducted by Matthew Rowe and Jonathan Lo

Since its inception in 1965, the orchestra has been proud to accompany its partners, Dutch National Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater. The working method is unique in the Netherlands.

Dutch National Ballet Orchestra

Dutch Ballet Orchestra, with Matthew Rowe as principal conductor, consists of a regular core of 45 musicians, supported where necessary by highly qualified guest performers. This gives the orchestra its unique character: flexible, dynamic and high-quality.

More about Dutch National Ballet Orchestra

Partner

FONDS 21

This production is part of