Dutch National Opera & Ballet Will Host 'Ballet Dancers of Tomorrow'
The event runs July 4-5.
By: Stephi Wild Jun. 30, 2025
This year, the Dutch National Ballet Academy will 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.
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.
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.
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.
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