Grimm

The government’s temporary decision to ban events and gatherings until 1 June 2020, in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus, means that Dutch National Opera & Ballet will be closed until that date. Read more information here: operaballet.nl/corona-update In the world of GRIMM, Cinderella walks in sneakers and other familiar fairy tale characters are all given a funky twist. This is no sugar-coated fable, but a modern-day romp in which ballet and hip-hop dancers propel each other to ever greater heights.

Grimm

The government’s temporary decision to ban events and gatherings until 1 June 2020, in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus, means that Dutch National Opera & Ballet will be closed until that date. Read more information here: operaballet.nl/corona-update In the world of GRIMM, Cinderella walks in sneakers and other familiar fairy tale characters are all given a funky twist. This is no sugar-coated fable, but a modern-day romp in which ballet and hip-hop dancers propel each other to ever greater heights.

Carmen

The government’s temporary decision to ban events and gatherings until 1 June 2020, in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus, means that Dutch National Opera & Ballet will be closed until that date. Read more information here: operaballet.nl/corona-update Year in, year out, Georges Bizet's Carmen works its magic around the world. With her unashamed sensuality, the popular opera heroine still has the power to stir our imaginations.

International Young Patrons Gala

The government’s temporary decision to ban events and gatherings until 1 June 2020, in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus, means that Dutch National Opera & Ballet will be closed until that date.

Rusalka

The government’s temporary decision to ban events and gatherings until 1 June 2020, in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus, means that Dutch National Opera & Ballet will be closed until that date. Read more information here: operaballet.nl/corona-update Dvořák’s Rusalka is about a water nymph who dreams of a life on land, rooted in the tradition of the ‘undine’ as well as the opposition between man and nature. While Rusalka sacrifices almost everything to live as a human with her prince, she ultimately returns to the water utterly disillusioned.  

Beethoven

At the 2020 Holland Festival, Dutch National Ballet will present the world premiere of Beethoven. George Balanchine once remarked that ‘Dance should leave Beethoven well alone – there’s no choreographing to his music’. But plenty of choreographers have since proved him false. Making ballet to Beethoven may not be easy, but the results are sensational! In honour of his 250th birthday, Dutch National Ballet presents two masterpieces and one new creation inspired by the grand master’s music.

The monster in the maze

The government’s temporary decision to ban events and gatherings until 1 June 2020, in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus, means that Dutch National Opera & Ballet will be closed until that date. Read more information here: operaballet.nl/corona-update In the kingdom of Minos, there lives a fearsome creature: half man, half bull. The king keeps it locked deep inside a maze, feeding it the flesh of his enemies. Now, the king has ordered the city of Athens to sacrifice its youth – its future! – in order to feed the monster of Minos. The young hero Theseus believes that he can defeat the monster, but will he be able to keep his courage in the heart of the maze?

The monster in the maze

The government’s temporary decision to ban events and gatherings until 1 June 2020, in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus, means that Dutch National Opera & Ballet will be closed until that date. Read more information here: operaballet.nl/corona-update In the kingdom of Minos, there lives a fearsome creature: half man, half bull. The king keeps it locked deep inside a maze, feeding it the flesh of his enemies. Now, the king has ordered the city of Athens to sacrifice its youth – its future! – in order to feed the monster of Minos. The young hero Theseus believes that he can defeat the monster, but will he be able to keep his courage in the heart of the maze?

Dancers of Tomorrow

The government’s temporary decision to ban events and gatherings until 1 June 2020, in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus, means that Dutch National Opera & Ballet will be closed until that date.

Mefistofele

The diabolical Mefistofele is an extraordinary opera calling for an extraordinary orchestra and large choruses. It’s an opera about God, the devil and man; about creation, love, misery and unquenchable yearning.

Gala

The red carpet is rolled out on 14 September. For the ninth time, the Dutch National Ballet is opening the season with a Gala. A programme full of surprises, full of glamour and with the entire Ballet Orchestra in the pit.

The Dutch School

The Dutch School offers a wonderful sampler of the best that Dutch dance has achieved: dance that puts simplicity, clarity, musicality and the expressive qualities of the individual dancer at the forefront. It invites you to experience an incredibly wide range of vibes and emotions.

Innocence

The new opera Innocence is based on a true story that took place in Finland in 2007. An international school became the stage for a school shooting. The opera tells a modern-day story about guilt, forgiveness and the feeling of a ‘life sentence’ brought on by a traumatic experience. A theme that is still shockingly topical.

Kriebel

Ever imagined the sound of an itch (kriebel) … in your belly? What would happen if that itch crept up your throat and slipped out of your mouth? If it flew through the air and landed – plop! – on the viola, then jumped – pling! – inside the marimba? After successful performances in 2019, Kriebel will be back at Dutch National Opera this year.

La Bayadère

The pure dance in the ballet classic La Bayadère offers all the dancers of Dutch National Ballet a chance to shine. And so they do! With this love ballet full of intrigue, jealousy and deception - and with one of the most beautiful white acts - they always manage to win a lot of hearts.

La Bayadère

The pure dance in the ballet classic La Bayadère offers all the dancers of Dutch National Ballet a chance to shine. And so they do! With this love ballet full of intrigue, jealousy and deception - and with one of the most beautiful white acts - they always manage to win a lot of hearts.

Modern Masters

In Modern Masters, top dancers from Dutch National Ballet show off their fabulous technique and extraordinary versatility. Whereas in Hans van Manen’s Adagio Hammerklavier they must demonstrate extreme control and balance, in William Forsythe’s Pas/Parts 2018 they plunge headlong into a dizzying avalanche of ever-changing formations.

Le nozze di Figaro

Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro is a comic opera riddled with intrigues, disguises, mixed-up identities and double entendres. An opera about love: from randy excitement to melancholic disillusionment.

Dorian

In these days of selfies and the ever-present craving for a smooth and successful life, Oscar Wilde’s 1891 book 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' is chillingly topical. Choreographers Ernst Meisner and Marco Gerris drew on Wilde’s novel as the basis for their third joint choreography. Be amazed by this invigorating, modern dance performance for all ages that brings together ballet and hiphop.

Aida

With this production of Aida, one of Verdi’s best-loved works returns to Dutch National Opera after twenty years, with a star-studded cast and a world-renowned director. An opera in which two lovers are torn between their love for each other and their love for their family and country.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Make sure you have the most beautiful places in 2020 at the cheaper rate of 2019!   Because of the overwhelming success in 2019, The Nutcracker & The Mouse King will return in 2020. Tickets have been made available early for 10, 16 and 18 December 2020.

Alice's adventures under ground

Tumble through a dark rabbit-hole and find yourself in a crazy, colorful world where nothing is what it seems. Welcome to Alice’s wonderland of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. A unique treat for the whole family.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Make sure you have the most beautiful places in 2020 at the cheaper rate of 2019!   Because of the overwhelming success in 2019, The Nutcracker & The Mouse King will return in 2020. Tickets have been made available early for 10, 16 and 18 December 2020.

Alice's adventures under ground

Tumble through a dark rabbit-hole and find yourself in a crazy, colorful world where nothing is what it seems. Welcome to Alice’s wonderland of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. A unique treat for the whole family.

Agrippina

Agrippina will do whatever it takes to depose the current Emperor Claudius and install her son Nero on the throne. A baroque opera about grand ambitions, political intrigues and the winding paths of power. The perfect material for one of Händel’s earliest works.

Der fliegende Holländer

In Wagner’s romantic opera Der fliegende Holländer, both the ghostly seaman – the ‘Dutchman’ – and the captain’s daughter Senta yearn desperately for redemption. The one is doomed to spend eternity sailing a ghost ship, the other is trapped in a stifling world where she does not belong.

Colours of Ballet

Colours of Ballet offers a vivid spectrum of the ballet repertoire, from classics to contemporary new works. The programme’s common denominator? All the choreographies are Dutch-grown and will be performed by the Junior Company’s budding talent.

Stravinsky Fairy Tales

The most important contemporary classical ballet choreographer, Alexei Ratmansky, made two brilliant ballet fairy tales to music by Stravinsky: The Fairy's Kiss and Firebird. Rousing group scenes, brilliant pointe variations and majestic music drag you right through drama and suffering to the 'happy end'.

Goud!

A percussionist and a singer play and sing the story of a magical wish-fish that can make all your wishes come true. Goud! is infectious music theater for our younger audiences about wishing for lots, getting it all, and it still not being enough.

Dorian

In these days of selfies and the ever-present craving for a smooth and successful life, Oscar Wilde’s 1891 book 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' is chillingly topical. Choreographers Ernst Meisner and Marco Gerris drew on Wilde’s novel as the basis for their third joint choreography. Be amazed by this invigorating, modern dance performance for all ages that brings together ballet and hiphop.

Oedipus Rex / From ‘Antigone’

Opera and ballet join forces for this new production of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex. In this unique artistic collaboration, the British choreographer and director Wayne McGregor bridges the world of classical tragedy with the language of contemporary ballet and 20th- and 21st-century music. Composer Samy Moussa wrote a penetrating and poignant response to Stravinsky’s masterpiece.

Oedipus Rex / From ‘Antigone’

Opera and ballet join forces for this new production of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex. In this unique artistic collaboration, the British choreographer and director Wayne McGregor bridges the world of classical tragedy with the language of contemporary ballet and 20th- and 21st-century music. Composer Samy Moussa wrote a penetrating and poignant response to Stravinsky’s masterpiece.

Club Faust

Club Faust creates a music-theatre journey through the life of Faust and his world. It shows us the searching and yearning man. Who are we? Where are we headed? Is there a way out?

Upload

Eternal life. It’s possible. As an upload, a digital version of ourselves. It might sound like science fiction. But developments in this area are racing ahead at warp speed. Upload investigates what this means for our ‘humanness’, our identity, and our relationship with others.

Onegin

John Cranko created one of the greatest love dramas in ballet history. Early love and broken hearts in an incredible choreographic richness make Onegin at least as compelling as Giselle and Swan Lake.

Die lustige Witwe

Die Lustige Witwe sketches an incisive picture of the hypocrisies of the beau monde. It proves that operetta is hardly shallow, but rather a rich and many-layered genre.

Onegin

John Cranko created one of the greatest love dramas in ballet history. Early love and broken hearts in an incredible choreographic richness make Onegin at least as compelling as Giselle and Swan Lake.

Die lustige Witwe

Die Lustige Witwe sketches an incisive picture of the hypocrisies of the beau monde. It proves that operetta is hardly shallow, but rather a rich and many-layered genre.

Anna Bolena

‘Success, Trumph, Delirium!’ – the audience practically raised the roof at the premiere of Anna Bolena in 1830. With his melodious music, Donizetti transposed a historical situation into a world of intense emotion. He still manages to touch listeners as no other.

In the Future

2021 marks Dutch National Ballet’s 60th birthday. We’ll celebrate with dance groups from across the Netherlands in a participation project called In the Future.

Nederlands Dans Theater

The NDT 1 program Everything is New combines several artistic voices. Israeli choreographer Roy Assaf is creating a world premiere for this program.

La damnation de Faust

The Faust season is rounded off with an adventure headed straight for damnation. La damnation de Faust is a monumental opera in which the search and longing for love are the point of focus.

Stravinsky’s Masterpieces

During the Holland Festival 2021 we will round off our Stravinsky Year with Stravinsky’s Masterpieces: three enthralling choreographies by Michael Fokine, Krzysztof Pastor and Shen Wei. Exclusively for this programme, Dutch National Ballet will join forces with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, which will perform all three compositions under the baton of the Spanish conductor Gustavo Gimeno.

New Moves 2021

Like to meet the choreographers of the future? The annual New Moves programme gives the Dutch National Ballet dancers the opportunity to develop their choreographic talent and present their creations to an inquisitive and adventurous audience. Let us surprise you!