ATD Fund
The ATD Fund supports students of all programs at the Academy of Theatre and Dance in completing their education and making the transition to the professional field. We do this by awarding prizes and providing scholarships.
For more detailed information we refer to the Dutch version of the website.
Support our talented makers!
'As a student, you should be able to immerse yourself in your profession without stressing about tuition fees. For this, we have the Jan Kassies grant, for example. And with the prizes and grants, the juries shine a light on exceptional talents and give them a chance to invest in themselves. We need these talented makers to continue to stimulate and inspire us in the future.'
Anna Drijver, chair
Photography: Romy Treebusch
Board members
Anna Drijver, voorzitter
Geert Lageveen, vice-voorzitter
Anke Wirken, penningmeester
Frank Noorland, secretaris
Brechtje Haverkate, lid
ATD Fund ward ceremony 2024
Foto's: Nellie de Boer
The ATD Fund is the collective name of nine named funds: Top Naeff Prize Fund - Emma Morel Fund - Jan Kassies Fund - Aart Janszen Fund - Hanny Veldkamp Fund - Pisuisse Prize Fund - Henny Kamerman Dancer Award - Ria Higler Fund and the André Veltkamp Fund. You can read more about it below.
Students should be able to follow their education without great stress about their financial situation. That is why the ATD Fund provides scholarships and contributes to tuition fees. The prizes highlight talents and give them the opportunity to invest in themselves. Make sure that talented makers can continue to stimulate us and contribute to the ATD Fund!
The ATD Fund manages these funds and awards:
The Top Naeff Prijs is the oldest theatre student prize in the country and is awarded on an irregular basis to a promising student, graduating from the Academy of Theatre and Dance. The prize is named after writer and theatre critic Top Naeff (1878-1953).
The Top Naeff Prize is awarded thanks to the Top Naeff Prize Fund and is co-sponsored by the Emma Morel Fund.
The first prize winner was actress Sigrid Koetse when she graduated in 1955. After her, the prize has been won by, among others: Carice van Houten, Peter Oosthoek, Suzanne Kennedy, Boukje Schweigmann and Theun Mosk. Most recent winners are:
- 2024: Annabel Koele
- 2023: Thibaud Dooms
- 2022: Sia Cyrroes
- 2021: n00b (Laura Bakker en Isabel Kafando)
- 2020: Teun Donders en Jasper Stoop
- 2019: Simme Wouters
- 2018: Sue Ann Bell
- 2017: Benno Veenstra
- 2016: Erwin Dörr
- 2015: Nina Spijkers
- 2013: Karlijn Kistemaker
- 2012: Dionne Verwey
- 2011: Eerste Lichting Scenografie
Top Naeff Prize jury members: Jeroen de Beer, Sabrina van Halderen, Lois Maat, Christiaan Mooij, Santino Slootweg.
The grant is named after André Veltkamp, director of the Theaterschool from 1997 to 2010. The André Veltkamp Beurs is intended for a graduation production from the Academy of Theatre and Dance that excels through involvement with today's society. Consideration is given to craftsmanship, individuality, drive and originality.
The André Veltkamp Grant is made possible in part by the Pisuisse Prize Fund.
- In 2024 the Grant was awarded to Chun Shing Au for the performance G.O. Box No. 211.
- In 2023 the Grant went to Kirsty Baker for Baseline Babbling
- In 2022 the grant went to 7 Abiku Solos for 11 Bacteria Falling Through by Flavia Pinheiro.
- In 2021 the grant was awarded to Lizzy & de Bacchanten.
- In 2020 the performance Becoming by Bodine Sutorius received the grant.
- In 2019 Een Carnaval received the André Veltkamp Grant.
- In 2018 the grant was awarded to Mime Direction 2018 for Paradijsvertraging.
- In 2017 the grant went to the creators of the proposition De Louteringsberg.
- In 2016 the grant was awarded to Samira Elagoz for Cock, cock, who’s there?
- The first award ceremony was in 2015. Charlotte Lap, theatre maker and widow of André Veltkamp, and Valerie Veltkamp, André's daughter, presented the grant to Liliane Brakema for De Wilde Eend.
The André Veltkamp Grant commitee members are: Kirsty Baker, Floortje Bakkeren, Inge Koks, Gemma van Kruijsbergen, Frank Noorland, Dorothea Sinnema.
The Henny Kamerman Dancers Prize is awarded to the to the most remarkable young dancer of the study year. Henny Kamerman introduced jazz dance to the study programmes and was the opinionated artistic director of the Jazztheater- en Showmusicaldans study programme (the current UC/JMD study programme). The jury will reflect on her energy and contrariness in the dance world when awarding this prize.
Henny Kamerman Dancers Prize jury members: Honey Eavis, Dalton Jansen, Jimat Pelupessy, Wendy Tadrous-Paulusma.
The Aart Janszen Fund wants to facilitate young dancers and choreographers with financial contributions in the making process of new work. The Aart Janszen Fund arises from the accumulated capital of Stichting Beheer.
The Aart Janszen Fund, named after the driving force behind PapaverStudios, is committed to stimulating the development of new and innovative work. In the coming period, the scheme of the Aart Janszen Fund will be shaped in consultation with the ATD.
In financing their study many Academy of Theatre and Dance students have been hit hard by recent tuition fee restrictions. More often than in other disciplines, our students have already followed another bachelor or master study before embarking on a course in dance or theatre. For foreign students from outside the European Union a study is often too expensive.
Students at the Academy of Theatre and Dance are talented individuals, 200% committed to achieving their goals and completing their studies. The ATD’s Jan Kassies Fund was set up to help talented students gain their diplomas despite obstacles posed by new regulations or other exceptional circumstances.
The Ria Higler Fund aims to partially alleviate financial barriers by contributing to the tuition fees of students from countries outside the European Union. With the recent increases in tuition fees in the Netherlands for these international students, many aspiring choreographers face great challenges in accessing educational opportunities at the SNDO. With this fund, we aim to make SNDO more accessible to talented people from different socio-economic backgrounds.
Ria Higler (1950-2023) was a teacher at the SNDO whose vision of dance and dedication to training the next generation of choreographers left an indelible mark on the school and on the lives and artistic paths of hundreds of our alumni and students. The Ria Higler Fund is in recognition of Ria's legacy and a continuation of the support she gave students for more than four decades.
Mrs. Hanny Veldkamp was a lecturer in the fifties and sixties of the last century - at the Amsterdam Theater School, among others. When she died, the Hanny Veldkamp Fund was established in 1968. It was filled with the legacy that had arisen from the proceeds of various speech therapy textbooks, of which Hanny Veldkamp was author or co-author.
The fund is open to all students of the Academy for Theater and Dance. More than 300 students from the various theater and dance academies received a Hanny Veldkamp Grant or Gift.