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Hans van Manen Festival

Het Nationale Ballet

Tribute to the grandmaster of Dutch ballet


Hans van Manen will be turning ninety this summer. The international dance world will gather to pay tribute to the grandmaster of Dutch ballet.

The celebration of a long and inspiring life in which he wrote many outstanding choreographies will be graced with appearances by the Vienna State Ballet, Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg, the Stuttgart Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater 1, Nederlands Dans Theater 2, Introdans and of course the Dutch National Ballet and the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet.

Together, the companies will present a cross-section of the vast Van Manen repertoire. The programme will also feature a Dutch premiere: Ballett am Rhein will dance Dances with Piano, an adapted version of Dances with Harp, which Van Manen made for the Dutch National Ballet in 2014.

Tribute to the grandmaster of Dutch ballet


Hans van Manen will be turning ninety this summer. The international dance world will gather to pay tribute to the grandmaster of Dutch ballet.

The celebration of a long and inspiring life in which he wrote many outstanding choreographies will be graced with appearances by the Vienna State Ballet, Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg, the Stuttgart Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater 1, Nederlands Dans Theater 2, Introdans and of course the Dutch National Ballet and the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet.

Together, the companies will present a cross-section of the vast Van Manen repertoire. The programme will also feature a Dutch premiere: Ballett am Rhein will dance Dances with Piano, an adapted version of Dances with Harp, which Van Manen made for the Dutch National Ballet in 2014.
Programme
The different pieces are combined into four programmes that can be attended on different evenings:

PROGRAMME I (June 8, 10 and 11)
Metaforen, Sarcasmen, Frank Bridge Variations, Grosse Fuge (Dutch National Ballet)

PROGRAMME II (June 15, 16, 17 and 19)
Polish Pieces (Introdans), Trois Gnossiennes (Dutch National Ballet), Situation (Nederlands Dans Theater 1), Two Pieces for HET (Dutch National Ballet), Two Gold Variations (Dutch National Ballet)

PROGRAMME III (June 22, 23, 24 and 26)
Adagio Hammerklavier (Dutch National Ballet), Simple Things (Nederlands Dans Theater 2), Dances with Piano (Ballett am Rhein), Symfoniën der Nederlanden (Het Nationale Ballet), 5 Tango’s (Dutch National Ballet)

PROGRAMME IV (June 28 and 29)
Four Schumann Pieces (Vienna State Ballet), In the Future (Junior Company), Solo (Stuttgart Ballet), Concertante (Duthc National Ballet)
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dates

Wed June 8 2022 8:15 PM

Fri June 10 2022 8:15 PM

Sat June 11 2022 8:15 PM

Wed June 15 2022 8:15 PM

Thu June 16 2022 8:15 PM

Fri June 17 2022 8:15 PM

Sun June 19 2022 2:00 PM

Wed June 22 2022 8:15 PM

Thu June 23 2022 8:15 PM

Fri June 24 2022 8:15 PM

Sun June 26 2022 2:00 PM

Tue June 28 2022 8:15 PM

Wed June 29 2022 8:15 PM

Prices

  • default from € 20

language & duration

  • 2 hours 25 minutes (met 2 pauzes)

On 24 June it is possible to visit HF x Lofi x CTM after this performance.

Dance in Close-Up: Hans van Manen seen by Erwin Olaf
Simultaneously with the Hans van Manen Festival, the photo exhibition Dance in Close-Up: Hans van Manen seen by Erwin Olaf will be on show at Galerie Ron Mandos. more information

Background
Apart from the Dutch premiere of Ballett am Rhein’s Dances with Piano, the Vienna State Ballet is also featured with an early Van Manen piece: Four Schumann Pieces, originally made for the British Royal Ballet. Nederlands Dans Theater will present an early and a later Van Manen: NDT 1 will dance its ground-breaking Situation from 1970; NDT 2 shines in Simple Things.

On 24 June it is possible to visit HF x Lofi x CTM after this performance.

Dance in Close-Up: Hans van Manen seen by Erwin Olaf
Simultaneously with the Hans van Manen Festival, the photo exhibition Dance in Close-Up: Hans van Manen seen by Erwin Olaf will be on show at Galerie Ron Mandos. more information

Background
Apart from the Dutch premiere of Ballett am Rhein’s Dances with Piano, the Vienna State Ballet is also featured with an early Van Manen piece: Four Schumann Pieces, originally made for the British Royal Ballet. Nederlands Dans Theater will present an early and a later Van Manen: NDT 1 will dance its ground-breaking Situation from 1970; NDT 2 shines in Simple Things.

Colourful evergreens
Introdans and the Junior Company will provide a colourful note with Polish Pieces and In the Future respectively, two evergreens in which the colourful costumes of Van Manen’s regular designer Keso Dekker play an important role. The Dutch National Ballet will dance no less than nine ballets from the master choreographer. From early work like Metaforen to internationally successful classics like Grosse Fuge, Adagio Hammerklavier and 5 Tangos. But also later choreographies like Concertante, Two Pieces for HET and Frank Bridge Variations.

Lifetime achievement award
Hans van Manen was given the VSCD Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. From the jury report:
‘For over sixty years, Van Manen has made ground-breaking choreographies through which he stimulated the development of the art of dance both in the Netherlands and internationally.
He started dancing in 1951 and made his first ballet Feestgericht in 1957, which was awarded the Dutch National Prize for Choreography. Many more choreographies and awards would follow. With his vast and varied oeuvre of around a hundred and fifty works, three new ballets per year on average (which he created for the Dutch National Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater, among others), Van Manen has created a distinctive style that has inspired many dancers and choreographers and has enriched conceptions about what dance is and can be.

Hans van Manen regularly redefines gender roles in his work and has played a part in the emancipation of classical ballet. Adagio Hammerklavier from 1973 is one of Van Manen’s masterpieces about which Vrij Nederland at the time wrote: ‘A major event in Dutch art and the greatest in dance from the Netherlands. To overlook this, or not to go have a look at the least, is detrimental to the soul.’ This choreography also shows Van Manen’s enormous musicality. He not only shows audiences dance but has them experience the music in a new way.

His influence is indelible. He is also called the “Mondriaan of dance, a master of simplicity” because of his high degree of abstraction and formal consistency. His work goes back to the essence of what dance is: simplicity, powerful and pure, an art form that touches the soul. Hans van Manen has brought this love to the stage with all his passion and efforts, and often also with a sense of humour. Everyone will recognise the clear long lines being broken, like a thunderstorm on a sunny day, as the work of this true master choreographer.’

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credits

choreography Hans van Manen music Louis Andriessen, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Benjamin Britten, David Byrne, Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, 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, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Henryk Górecki musical accompaniment Het Balletorkest, Carel Kraayenhof Ensemble conducted by Matthew Rowe, Jonathan Lo performance Het Nationale Ballet, Introdans, Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg, Wiener Staatsballett, Stuttgarter Ballett

This performance is made possible by