The Dansersfonds is an arts fund set up in 1979 by the Netherlands’ most famous dance couple, Alexandra Radius and Han Ebbelaar. The fund supports Dutch dance, and focuses particularly on promising young talents.

‘Dex and Timothy stood out immediately,’ says Han Ebbelaar from Dansersfonds ’79, ‘They’re really nice lads, they are trained very well, worked really hard, and they’re already showing strong personalities and presentation.’
Each year, Dutch dance study programmes select their best students to attend a lesson from Han Ebbelaar that is instigated by the Dansersfonds. A professional jury assesses the quality and potential of the students and awards grants to the most promising young talents. This time around, Dex van ter Meij and Timothy van Poucke are two of the recipients.

As well as study grants, Dansersfonds also presents Encouragement awards and Merit awards. This year, the awards ceremony will take place on Monday 16 November at Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, as part of the fund’s biennial Ballet Gala. The gala festivities will include performances by Igone de Jongh, Nancy Burer, Nathan Brhane and Daniel Montero – all of them former students at the Dutch National Ballet Academy and current members of the Dutch National Ballet.