NDT 2 presents Falling into Shadow: a programme featuring a world premiere by Botis Seva, Wir Sagen uns Dunkles by Marco Goecke and Walking Mad by Johan Inger. To be seen from March 27 onwards in various Dutch theatres.
The complete triptych by Simon McBurney, Artistic Director of Complicité, and NDT associate choreographer Crystal Pite, performed by NDT 1.
At Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) we open our doors to the talents of today and tomorrow. As a house of creation and a leader in the field, we offer a nurturing environment that supports dance makers without bias, fostering inquiry and exploration. We provide opportunities for emerging, mid-career, and established makers to expand their practice and contribute to the arts sector.
Our Maker Pathway supports research, training, and creation at every career stage. It also strengthens our collaboration with our local dance community.
A maker can engage with our Maker Pathway through three initiatives:
We will elaborate on each initiative and the different maker opportunities they provide below.
Internships meet a maker at the start of their choreographic journey. Through an internship, a maker can shadow an established choreographer in their creation process. Witnessing how they build an idea, create a work, integrate different theatrical elements (e.g. costumes, music, light design) in their work, and collaborate with the dancers and creative team.
Going beyond comfort zones and familiar boundaries of making is at the heart of our new Micro Residencies. These are bespoke, flexible openings to meet the artists where they are in their careers and help them progress by stimulating them to explore beyond their familiar boundaries of making. This pathway supports artists—whether emerging, mid-career, or established—in developing specific skills, conducting research, or creating and producing new work from diverse perspectives. There will be both NDT and Korzo/NDT-related Micro Residencies.
No one understands the needs of a maker better than a mid-career or established artist. These expert Artistic Assistants, offer support to emerging makers in various forms: through mentorship, dedicated support, dramaturgical assistance, feedback, and critical advice. This will take place throughout the creation process for Up & Coming Choreographers and Switch. An opportunity for mutual learning and growth.
In our Up and Coming Lab programme, four emerging makers have two weeks to explore and develop a short work with the dancers of NDT 2, resulting in an informal sharing in the NDT Black Box.
For our first edition of Up & Coming Lab in July 2025, we’re happy to welcome Anat Oz and the duo Sarah Baltzinger & Isaiah Wilson (recipients of the NDT award at the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition), the duo Eliana Stragapede & Borna Babić (recipients of the NDT award at the Copenhagen International Choreographic Competition) and Anna Ozerskaia our second exchange project for emerging makers with GöteborgsOperans Danskompani.
In a close collaboration between NDT and Korzo, Up & Coming Choreographers offers talented, emerging makers the opportunity to create a work with the dancers of NDT 2. The project serves as a platform to support new voices, experimentation, and exchange. Up & Coming Choreographers concludes with performances in the intimate setting of the Korzo theatre in The Hague.
The Hague is the ‘Dance City’ bursting with choreographic talent and is the place to meet them. Every year, Korzo and NDT select local emerging makers and give them space to create new works for the Korzo theatre. Here we Live and Now offers an interesting programme full of new ideas and inspiration, an opportunity to discover what’s next in contemporary dance.
An annual favourite of ours is Switch: an evening entirely curated, produced, and choreographed by the dancers of NDT. Switch offers an opportunity for our talented dancers to give back, develop themselves and connect with our audience on a more personal level. Aside from the magic that happens on stage, the charity of the dancers’ choice is supported through selling tickets, merchandise, silent auctions, and much more. The proceeds of past editions have gone to important charities such as COC Nederland, Doctors without Borders, and War Child.
Every summer, NDT opens its doors to a selection of (pre)professional dancers from all over the world for the much-loved and carefully-crafted NDT Summer Intensive. Aside from offering these talented dancers the opportunity of a lifetime to dive into the world of NDT, we also offer three emerging choreographers, that are connected to NDT, the opportunity to create a piece for the participating dancers. A powerful exchange between new voices, supporting everyone involved in their talent development.
Young Talent Project is a unique collaboration between the Royal Conservatoire Dance (KC) and Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). Over several months, pre-professional dance students from the KC are guided by former or current NDT dancers. Young Talent Project is a twofold talent development project. On the one hand, the project gives young dance students the chance to get acquainted with NDT’s way of working and repertoire, and deepen their technique, talents, and choreographic skills. On the other hand, the project offers (former and current) NDT dancers the opportunity to gain experience as teachers, rehearsal directors or choreographers. An opportunity for mutual growth and talent development, for the voices of tomorrow.
NDT 1
NDT is a creation house that drives the making of new work. We support makers at every stage of their career and with commissioned work for NDT1, this is one of the larger platforms for which we acknowledge the focus on innovative work, diverse partnerships and multidisciplinary projects. This commission is an opportunity for a renowned choreographer to work with world-class dancers with the aspiration of propelling their choreographic canon forward in new and unique ways while we develop our artistic practice as a company.
NDT 2
For the next generation of contemporary makers, from emerging to mid-career, the NDT 2 commissions are a unique opportunity to create new work with our talented NDT 2 dancers. This production will be included in our NDT 2 programming, touring the Netherlands and beyond. As a house of creation, we not only focus on the magic on stage, but we also create a supportive, inspiring environment for these makers to develop their movement language, compositional techniques and individual working methods.
As an extension of the NDT commissions, we also offer Special Projects that encourage mid-career to established makers to look beyond habitual responses and comfort zones. These Special Projects are centred around experimentation and offer an invitation to create works outside the traditional stage using alternative platforms and venues, including our NDT Black Box. These projects are a unique opportunity to meet artists and audiences differently from our mainstage performances and encourage new thinking and creative risk.
Our Associate Choreographers are very important to us and are a vital part of NDT’s artistic identity. Through the Arts Plan phase, we will continue to build our pool of Associate Choreographers, becoming an extension of the NDT 1 and NDT 2 commission line. For several years, we have worked with two Associate Choreographers, Crystal Pite and Marco Goecke. Starting in 2025, we will expand the number of inspiring and exciting choreographers in this pool, including both emerging to established makers.
We have one Artist/ Company in Residence opportunity each season for a mid-career or established artist/ company with an extensive body of work. We aim to offer access to rehearsal space and share our resources to support the next step in the makers’ developmental journey. Making our house of creation a shared home for the talent(s) of tomorrow.