Founders
NDT was founded in 1959 by Benjamin Harkarvy, Aart Verstegen and Carel Birnie together with a group of 18 members of the Dutch National Ballet (which was directed by Sonia Gaskell). Their intention was to break away from the more traditionally oriented Dutch National Ballet (Het Nederlands Ballet). NDT focused onto new ideas and experimentation with the exploration of new forms and techniques of dance.
In 1961 the Nederlands Dans Theater got subsidy from the city of The Hague and from the government. In the 1960s the NDTs repertoire comprised classical dance with a strong influence by American modern dance. The NDT got unprecedented recognition and success with the guidance of different persons like Hans van Manen and Jiří Kylián as artistic directors. In the first years of the 1970s there was no clear policy because of various conflicts within the board of the NDT. That changed when in 1975 Jirí Kylian entered the board as artistic leader.
The Nederlands Dans Theater is based in the Lucent Danstheater at the Spui in The Hague since 1987.
Many of the founding NDT dancers have made their mark on Dutch ballet and dance:
- Gérard Lemaître was knighted Order of Orange-Nassau by Queen Beatrix. He retired in 1982 but returned as dancer of the NDT III company till 2006.
- Charles Czarny, Martinette Janmaat and Mabel Alter became well known ballet teachers at the conservatoires and dance academies in Rotterdam and Amsterdam
- Martinette Janmaat was artistic director for the Contemporary dance department at the Nationale Ballet Academy in Amsterdam.
The first group of dancers also included:
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