Specialists in contracts, rights and scheduling

Text: Gusta Winnubst

They focus on the fine print, and are responsible for contracts with theaters, choreographers and composers, and set up a 50-person company tour with apparent ease. However, so much more falls under the remit of Company Management’s six-member team. Two of them, Lara Meeuwissen and Maarten van Herwijnen have been working for the department with great energy for years.

The Company Management team can affectionately be described as the centipedes of NDT. They deal with all organizational matters concerning the performances of both NDT 1 and NDT 2. Many hours are spent on booking theaters, choreographers, composers, lighting, costume and set designers, dramaturges, choreographic assistants and guest teachers. Maarten: “It’s a meticulous job and can sometimes be a lengthy process. We try to commit to overseas performances, such as in Asia or North America, two years in advance.  A consequence of the pandemic is that the leads for Dutch and European theatres to commit to performance dates have shortened, and we are very aware that shifts in our schedules can happen at any time. It can be quite a complicated puzzle. Sometimes a request comes in last minute or we can approach a theater because space has opened up unexpectedly.

The contract negotiations with theaters have become stricter since the pandemic, which is understandable. Fortunately, there continue to be many requests for NDT from abroad as well. It is great to organize an international tour to a theater that we visit regularly. In familiar theatres we are fully aware of the circumstances, such as the theater, the people, the surroundings and even the accommodation. But of course, it is still interesting to visit new theaters.”

NDT 1 travels with a crew of 50: around 28 dancers, 10 technicians, the artistic staff, 2 dressers, a pianist, a physical therapist and, of course, a company manager. NDT 2 is a smaller company, with about 26-28 people. Maarten: “After fixing the performance dates and negotiating the contract, we dive into the practical matters such as organizing train or plane tickets, drawing up the tour schedule, checking the facilities at the location and in some cases also checking whether everyone has space in their passports for the visa application.”

Copyrights for choreographers, composers and music rights, are a business in their own right. Maarten: “The livestreams that NDT successfully launched during the pandemic, added a new dimension to our respective jobs. A choreographer, for example, must give permission for streaming the live recording of the ballet. During the pandemic they were quick to cooperate with the livestreams, now that theaters are open again, this is sometimes viewed differently.” Patience is a virtue when arranging music rights, says Lara: “We don’t want to run any risk that rights are not properly covered, we are very meticulous about that.

We negotiate with composers who create new works for us, and we annually collaborate on a programme with The Ballet Orchestra. For the choice of music in a new work, we find out every detail: the length of the piece for example, or if the composer developed the entire piece himself or if he used (in part) existing work? And who executed it? For example: a recording of a few minutes played by an American orchestra can roughly mean that 92 orchestra members all must give their permission. That is why such a process can easily take three months. Incidentally, we sometimes get “no” votes. For example, if a composer wants his work to be exclusively used for a film.”

In addition to negotiations with theaters and external parties, Company Management also engages in internal consultation about finances. For each calendar year we draw up a budget for each programme and tour. Maarten: “For new productions, we work with Joost van Hilten of the production team and Yolanda Klompstra of the costume department, among others. As soon as the plans for new productions become more concrete, we keep each other informed and try to shift where necessary. One major problem is that the cost of materials and transportation has skyrocketed, and delivery times have been extended. As a result, we have to be even more creative with budgets, get ideas on the table even earlier and bring schedules forward.”

The hallmarks of a good company manager are being able to plan well, organize, think ahead, be flexible and solve problems immediately. Maarten: “You get used to working at a high pace, managing the process from A to Z, being involved in many different issues and being able to switch gears immediately. During the pandemic, our ability to shift gears and revise plans rose to a new level.” Lara: “Fortunately, we have all the right people in house, and we train new additions to the team well. I speak from experience, during my internship and first years here I had excellent guidance and learned a lot from the team.”