It's a wrap! The ATD's Intro Week 2025 has come to an end and the students are now immersing themselves in their own study programmes. Intro Week concluded on Friday 29 August with a fantastic “veggie burgers and fries” dinner on the roof terrace and a Silent Disco Party, to which senior students were also invited. It was a jam-packed week with workshops, an interactive assignment on the cultural history of the school's surroundings and a spectacular performance.

The first-year students, who were divided into mixed groups from day one, truly brought the Intro Week's objective of “inspire, connect, create” to life. This was also clearly evident in the T-shirts that the students made for each other in pairs as an introductory assignment. The portrait T-shirts were on display as artworks in the hall throughout the week.

We can look back on a successful introduction week! 
> View the photo galery on the Intro Week website

Intro Week offers a joint introduction programme for all first-year students at the ATD. It is a light-hearted introduction to the academy, its platforms, facilities and staff, but above all an opportunity to get to know each other, so that connections can be established from the very start.

Tuesday 26 August - Meet and Greet
All first-year students were welcomed on Tuesday 26 August in the Theatre Hall by our new director Oeds Westerhof, artistic directors and staff of the ATD. This opening was presented by second-year Mime students Siri Kledal and Timsie Blyer. In the afternoon, the students got to know each other better in smaller mixed groups, where they had interesting conversations in pairs and drew each other's portraits on T-shirts. During the Intro Week, these works of art formed a beautiful first-year gallery on the clothes racks in the hall.

Wednesday 27 August – Student for student
Wednesday was a day “at home” with workshops and films. The students attended both a workshop at their own programme and a workshop of their choice at another programme. These workshops were mainly given by senior students. Afterwards, six mini cinemas were created where students could watch a film/documentary of their choice. The students could choose from: Rize (2005), The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994), Casablanca (1943), I'm Your Venus (2025), No Other Land (2024) and Pina Bausch (2011).

Thursday 28 August – Mapping Places & Traces I: Exploring Amsterdam Through Its Historical Traces
On Thursday, it was time to go outside. The focus of the day was getting to know the surroundings of the Academy of Theatre and Dance, led by Naomi Bueno de Mesquita, who developed this assignment and the accompanying app. The students were sent out to explore the city's layered cultural history, after which they created assignments about the location for other students. Back at the ATD, the results of the assignment were discussed and the day ended with soup and bread in the TipTop theatre.  

Friday 29 August – Let's create and Silent Disco Party
Still enthusiastic, the first-year students started the last day of Intro Week. Working independently in their “own” studio in mixed groups, they created a presentation, for which they first had to find a prop in the school. Under the technical guidance of Pim and Kiki, these presentations were shown to each other in the Danstheater during the afternoon. Senior students and ATD staff were also present in large numbers. Everything was accompanied by overwhelming cheers, applause and support for and from each other.

Finally, there was the rooftop dinner, with vegetarian burgers and fries from the Starlounge team led by Carmen, who also provided vegetarian lunches in studio 8.09 throughout the week. This was followed by the Silent Disco on the roof terrace, with DJ Solange providing the music. During the week, the first-year students also added their musical choices to the Introweek 2025 playlist on Spotify. In 8.10, there was a table tennis table and a football table to enhance the festive atmosphere. Around 10 p.m., the Intro Week came to a tired but satisfied close.  

All in all, it was a full week with many wonderful encounters and memorable moments. While the first-year students seemed a little awkward at the start of the Intro Week, a sense of togetherness grew as the week progressed.

Linda, Barbara (who organised Intro Week) and Ariadne (who joined the team from Monday to Wednesday) are looking forward to seeing what these encounters will bring for Wastelands, the in-depth week in March 2026, as well as in the years to come. The team would like to emphasise that this special week was made possible with the help of second-year students Siri, Timsie and Luca, the ATT staff, all facility staff and, of course, Carmen and her Starlounge team.