Organisation structure

De Bachelor and Master study programmes, the Preliminary and Associate degree courses and the Research department of the Academy of Theatre and Dance are congregated as follows:

  • Theatre
    Mime School, Drama and Contemporary Music Theatre, Production and Stage Management, Theatre Directing, Scenography, Design & Technology, Theatre in Education
  • Dance
  • Dutch National Ballet Academy, 5 O'Clock Class, SNDO / Choreography (School for New Dance Development), Dance in Education, Expanded Contemporary Dance
  • DAS Graduate School
    DAS Choreography, DAS Theatre, DAS Creative Producing, DAS Research-ATD Lectorate

Students at work

photography: Sjoerd Derine

 

Academy of Theatre and Dance

The Executive Board of the Amsterdam University of the Arts (AHK) has appointed Mechtild van den Hombergh as interim director of the Academy of Theatre and Dance. Together with deputy director Anthony Heidweiller, she will form the two-member board of the academy from 11 September 2023.

Mechtild van den Hombergh has an extensive track record in the administration and management of social and (semi) public organisations. Since 2008, she has held numerous (interim) management positions at leading institutions, ranging from the Humanistische Verbond to the Prince Claus Fund. She is also familiar with art education: from 2018 to 2020 she was an interim member of the Executive Board of the Design Academy Eindhoven. Last year she was interim director of the Shoe quarter Museum in Waalwijk. Before 2008, she acted, among other things, as director of the Stichting DOEN and deputy director and member of the Board of Directors of Cordaid.

Leadership expansion

With the arrival of Mechtild van den Hombergh, the management of the Academy of Theatre and Dance (ATD) is composed of two people. The Executive Board of the AHK has decided to do this because the ATD is a complex academy, with sixteen study-programmes at different levels (Bachelor, Master and Associate Degree), divided over three domains (Theater, Dance, DAS Graduate School). This raises questions about the formal lines within the academy, about how to collaborate optimally and about the identity of the academy in a rapidly changing cultural landscape. Together with Anthony Heidweiller, Mechtild van den Hombergh will chart the course of the academy for the coming years and work with the organization on a structure and culture in which all lecturers, staff and students can flourish. She will also develop, with the ATD community, a profile for a definite general director for the Academy of Theater and Dance.
 

Anthony Heidweiller, together with interim director Mechtild van den Hombergh, will form the two-member board of the Academy of Theatre and Dance from 11 September 2023.

As deputy director of the Academy of Theatre and Dance, Anthony is responsible for Inclusion & education in connection with society.

Anthony Heidweiller has a long track record in national and international professional practice. As artistic director of the Yo Opera Festival, he focused for decades on collaborating with new target groups. As artistic director of Vocal Statements, Heidweiller has developed education and participation projects to bridge the gap between the performing arts and the multicultural society.
He has received various prizes for his work, including the Prins Bernhard Cultuurprijs for education and the Cultuurprijs of the city of Utrecht. He is also a much sought-after artistic producer nationally and internationally. He was Artistic Associate Director of the Opera Forward Festival of Dutch National Opera & Ballet and has been associated with the Festival Aix en Provence in France since 2019. He has also been a member of the Society of Arts (Akademie van Kunsten) since 2019. In 2022 Anthony was awarded the distinction Officier in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau for his merits in the arts.

 

 

photo: Sjoerd Derine

At the academy we engage in a passionate dialogue about our identity and direction.  The professional field and the world at large are included in this discourse as much as possible. Inspired by the motto ‘performing arts in transition’, we ask ourselves what  the role of an art school should be in the 21st century. With its fourteen bachelor and three master study programmes  in theatre and dance, the Academy of Theatre and Dance is unique in the Netherlands and the world. The top-quality study programmes attract the best students and can boast teachers who are fully active in the practical field. Made to measure guidance helps train  a generation of students to become individual artists.

The Academy of Theatre and Dance is situated in the centre of Amsterdam. The school  is like a large theatre company with well-equipped theatre auditoriums, studios and  work spaces. Students can rely on excellent technical support and have access to  an interdisciplinary digital lab to undertake experiments.

Read our policy departure points 2019-2024

 

 

  • Interim-Director: Mechtild van den Hombergh, 020-527 7822
  • Deputy Director: Anthony Heidweiller, 020-527 7822
  • Lecturer and head of DAS Graduate School: Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca, 020- 527 7804
  • Head Policy/Academy Secretary: Lieke van Hoogenhuyze 020-5277809
  • Head management: Paul Jeroen Willems, 020-527 7660
  • Facility manager: Niki Lemmens, 020- 527 7814
  • Head IDlab and information and communication technology in education: Erik Lint, 020- 527 7809
  • Head producing departments and project leader: Bart Kusters, 020-527 7816
  • Senior advisor personnel and organization a.i.: Sharita Lachman 020-527 7743

Supporting staff at the Academy of Theatre and Dance:

Go to: Supporting Staff

The educational staff is mentioned at specific pages on this site:

The exam committee (EC) fulfills a supervisory role within the Academy of Theatre and Dance. The EC is independent and monitors the quality of exams and evaluations in relation to the formulated competencies and final qualifications of the study programme. In doing so, the EC plays an important role in the granting of diplomas. Indeed, students, teachers and the work field should have confidence that diplomas are awarded with due diligence.

The EC does not set exams itself, it appoints examiners, draws up guidelines for  taking tests and evaluations (including certification), counters fraud, verifies the quality of tests and evaluations and decides on complaints, dispensations and personal learning tracks. Decisions of the EC are based on  the Onderwijs- en examenregeling (OER) (Education and exam regulation) and the Studiegids (Study Guide) which contains the competencies and final qualifications of the study programme. In addition, the EC gives solicited and unsolicited advice on subjects relating to the quality of tests and evaluations.
Read more 

Members of the exam committee are: Angela Linssen (chair), Jeroen de Beer (secretary), Martin Verheesen (member), Juul Beeren (member), Iva Lešić (member), Hellen Borgmann (external member). The exam commitee can be reached via secretary Jeroen de Beer: jeroen.debeer@ahk.nl

The members of the Advisory Committee of the Academy of Theatre and Dance are:

  • Sruti Bala - Assistant Professor in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Amsterdam (UVA)
  • Anita van Dolen        
    programmer dance Internationaal Theater Amsterdam

  • Milou Gevers
    documentary maker

  • Nan van Houte
    dramaturg

  • Django Walon
    scenographer

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