Since last summer, the National Ballet Academy has had lots of great new experiences and watched many talented young dancers at work. The performances of our end-of-year production Dancers of Tomorrow took place at the beginning of July and even featured on the cover of the British dance magazine Dance Europe. This was followed by an extremely successful edition of our Amsterdam International Summer School and the first edition of our new Summer Dance Day for the very youngest dancers. And at the beginning of September, all the pupils and students of our school took part in Dutch National Ballet’s annual gala to open the season.
In Dutch National Opera & Ballet – the ‘home’ of Dutch National Ballet – we gave two performances of Dancers of Tomorrow, on 9 and 10 July. It was the first end-of-year production for artistic director Ernst Meisner, who was very pleased with the result. “First of all, I’m incredibly proud of all our pupils. And I’m very happy that as a school we were able to present the complete Paquita, in the wonderful version by Rachel Beaujean, the associate artistic director of Dutch National Ballet, including all the solos and the gorgeous sets and costumes designed by François-Noël Cherpin”.
In addition, the pupils took on the challenge of various new works – “Like the wonderful creations by Wubkje Kuindersma and Didy Veldman” – and in Wayne McGregor’s masterpiece Atomos. Meisner: “I think it’s really special that as a school we were allowed to dance such a fantastic, ‘adult’ work”. The festive finale of Dancers of Tomorrow was formed by Bolero, by Gregor Seyffert and Larisa Dobrozhan, a dazzling spectacle set to Ravel’s iconic Bolero, in which all the pupils and students displayed their talents to the best.
For the first time, the performances of Dancers of Tomorrow were accompanied by the Dutch Ballet Orchestra, the regular orchestra of Dutch National Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater. Meisner: “It lent a fantastic extra dimension to the performances. And the great thing is that the collaboration doesn’t stop there, as the musicians of the orchestra will give music workshops to our ballet students throughout the year”.
Dance Europe magazine gave a detailed review of Dancers of Tomorrow in its August/September edition, writing: “The standard of the whole performance was very high and inspiring (…) This year, the dancers got their teeth into the final section of Wayne McGregor’s Atomos. They looked very at home in the organic movement idiom, which was interpreted with a nice light quality by Anna van Dieren (…) The big classical challenge for the graduates came in the form of Paquita (…) The dancers rose to the occasion and there were some remarkable performances, particularly from leading lady Emma Mardegan”. A photo of Mardegan, in her solo from Paquita, even appeared on the cover of the leading dance magazine.
Amsterdam International Summer School
After the performances, the National Ballet Academy’s annual Amsterdam International Summer School took place from 15 – 26 July, in Dutch National Ballet’s studios. No fewer than 160 talented dancers, aged 15 to 21, took part in this intensive two-week course, with classes given by Mara Galeazzi (ex-principal from The Royal Ballet), Jozef Varga (principal with Dutch National Ballet), internationally acclaimed teacher Nanette Glushak, Caroline Sayo Iura (ballet mistress of the Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company), choreographer Golan Yosef (former student of the National Ballet Academy), ex-dancers from Studio Wayne McGregor and various teachers from the National Ballet Academy. Ernst Meisner: “80 of the 160 participants said they wanted to audition for our school. That’s a huge score. We accepted four students immediately after the Summer School, and a few others will be coming back for short-term studies in the coming months”.
Summer Dance Day
Children who took part in the Summer Dance Day got a glimpse behind the scenes at the International Summer School and watched professional dance students at work. The Summer Dance Day is a new initiative by the National Ballet Academy to give young children in the Netherlands the opportunity to get to know the academy and to enjoy a special day with other young dance-lovers. Eighty children from all over the country, aged 7 to 11, took part in this first pilot edition of the Summer Dance Day. Besides their visit to the Summer School, the children took classes in the studios of Dutch National Ballet and learned an excerpt from Don Quichot, which they performed at the end of the day for their parents and guardians. Meisner: “The day was such a success that we’ve already decided to repeat the initiative next year, but then in an expanded version: i.e. the Summer Dance Days”.
Gala by Dutch National Ballet
On 10 September, all the pupils and students of the National Ballet Academy – over 130 – appeared in the Grand Défilé, with which Dutch National Ballet has been opening its annual gala since 2011. Meisner: “For most of the children in NBA 1, who had only just started their training, it was their first performance on a big ballet stage. And lots of new students appeared in the Grand Défilé as well, who had just started this year in NBA 6 or 7, or in one of the Bachelor’s classes”. By presenting not just the dancers from Dutch National Ballet and the Junior Company to the audience in the Grand Défilé, but also all the pupils and students of the National Ballet Academy, artistic director of Dutch National Ballet, Ted Brandsen, is underlining the great importance he attaches to the intensive collaboration between our school and the company.