Get to know the youngest generation of talented dancers
It’s become a festive tradition not to be missed: the closing of the Dutch National Opera & Ballet’s dance season with two performances of Dancers of Tomorrow, the ever-sparkling and enchanting end-of-year production by the Dutch National Ballet Academy. With live accompaniment from Dutch Ballet Orchestra, all 175 pupils and students from the academy will show off their talents to the best in an extremely diverse and energetic programme. Besides classical works and repertoire highlights by masters such as Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Jiří Kylián and Hans van Manen, the programme will also include some exciting new creations, both for the youngest classes and for the talented dancers who will be graduating this summer or next year.

Reservations
Reserve your tickets as of 17 April via Nationale Opera & Ballet

A first for the Netherlands
This year, the Dutch National Ballet Academy is very proud to open its end-of-year production with Concerto, by the British master choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan. It is the first time a Dutch company or academy has danced one of his works. MacMillan did not create Concerto for The Royal Ballet, where he was resident choreographer for many years, but for Staatsballett Berlin. His goal of giving the dancers of this company the opportunity to advance their technique resulted in an extremely physical, virtuoso work for 27 dancers, which also forms a big challenge for today’s generation of dancers.

Dutch grand masters
A second important and challenging acquisition is Jiří Kylián’s penetrating, mysterious Whereabouts Unknown, from which the Bachelor’s students will dance an excerpt in this edition of Dancers of Tomorrow. Since Dutch National Ballet recently took work by the former artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater into its repertoire, it’s important for the young dancers to become familiar with his style in the run-up to their graduation. No less of a challenge, but then for the youngest generation of dancers, is Hans van Manen’s Unisono. Its minimal – but according to the choreographer ‘damned difficult’ – steps make the ballet an exercise in concentration, collaboration and musicality.

New creations
And of course this year, too, the Dancers of Tomorrow programme will include some new creations. Mthuthuzeli November, Artistic Associate with the Dutch National Ballet Academy since August 2024, is making a new work for the Bachelor’s students, in which he will once again blend his two areas of expertise: African dance and classical ballet technique. In keeping with tradition, there will also be a new work by world dance teacher and choreographer Iva Lešić, performed by the pupils of NBA 1 to 4. This time, her work will also include a connection to the Royal Ballet School, as Lešić is choreographing her second work for the British academy this season. Another, very recent, piece is Clouds, the mind on the wind, for which dance student Noortje Willemse received high praise at the last edition of the Dutch National Ballet Academy’s Choreographic Project. In her work for six dancers, Willemse presents a convincing combination of live dance and video images.

Classical repertoire
And in Dancers of Tomorrow, the NBA students will of course once again take up the challenge of the classical ballet repertoire. New to the school is the scintillating Tarantella from the ballet Napoli, by the famous Danish choreographer of the nineteenth century, August Bournonville. The ballet for several couples showcases the typical Bournonville style, with its technically complex footwork and small jumps, which all have to be performed at top speed. Like last year, the festive finale of Dancers of Tomorrow will be a Grand Défilé, performed by all the pupils and students, culminating in choreographic fireworks for the upper classes of the school, compiled by artistic director Ernst Meisner.

Musical accompaniment
Dutch Ballet Orchestra
Conducted by Matthew Rowe
 

‘The Dancers of Tomorrow programme promises a bright dance future for the Netherlands. This wasn’t only about spotting future stars, although they were certainly in evidence, it was also about continuing the Dutch National’s fine tradition of developing choreographers’
Dance Europe

photo: Altin Kaftira