Gods and Dogs (2008)　Credits to Daisy Komen

Said and Done (2001) Credits to Daisy Komen	Chapeau (2005) Credits to Jan Joris Bos

Nederlands Dans Theater
Under the dynamic leadership of Artistic Director Jim Vincent, Nederlands Dans Theater is among the most prominent and innovative contemporary dance companies world-wide. The company was founded in 1959 and is much praised for its own repertoire works by choreographers Jiří Kylián and Lightfoot León. NDT's dancers display virtuosity and unparalleled expression while performing a challenging repertoire. But NDT also performs new creations by established choreographers and upcoming talent from inside and outside the company. NDT comprises two ensembles representing two generations of dancers: from budding talents starting their career in Nederlands Dans Theater II (17-23 years of age) to their full bloom in Nederlands Dans Theater I (23 years up). The company contributes to various art forms by involving visual art, music composition, light and set designs while developing new choreographic talent.
 
The company inspires and engages audiences world-wide with approximately 150 performances a year of which half abroad. Given the international character and the universal language of dance, Nederlands Dans Theater is a popular guest on all the big stages. The company travels the world, from Den Haag to New York and from Tokyo to Rio de Janeiro.

The Nederlands Dans Theater II for young raging talents was founded in 1978 and presently consists of sixteen dancers up to 23 years of age. Their technique is astounding and their boundless energy sets the stage alight. Started originally as an internal training class, the ensemble has grown into world class. Internationally, Nederlands Dans Theater II is famous for being one of the most revolutionary ensembles in the world of modern dance.

Resident Choreographer: Jiří Kylián
Jiří Kylián (Czechoslovakia, 1947) started his dance career at the age of nine, at the School of the National Ballet in Prague. He left Prague when he received a scholarship for the Royal Ballet School in London in 1967. After this, he left for the Stuttgart Ballet led by John Cranko. Kylián made his debut as a choreographer here with Paradox for the Noverre Gesellschaft. After having made three ballets for Nederlands Dans Theater (Viewers, Stoolgame and La Cathédrale Engloutie), he became Artistic Director of the company in 1975. In 1978 he put Nederlands Dans Theater on the international map with Sinfonietta. That same year, together with Carel Birnie, he founded Nederlands Dans Theater II, which was—and is—meant to give young dancers the opportunity to develop their skills and talents and to function as a "breeding ground" for young talent. He also initiated Nederlands Dans Theater III in 1991, the company for "older" dancers. After an extraordinary record of service, Kylián handed over the artistic leadership in 1999, but remained associated to the dance company as house choreographer. Jiří Kylián has created 92 ballets so far, 72 of which were for Nederlands Dans Theater.  His work is performed all over the world by more than 80 companies and schools. Kylián has not only made works for Nederlands Dans Theater, but also for the Stuttgart Ballet, the Paris Opéra, Swedish television and the Tokyo Ballet.

In the course of his career Kylián has received many international awards and honours, including Officer of the Royal Dutch Order of Orange-Nassau, Honorary Doctorate of the Juilliard School in New York, three Nijinsky Awards in Monte Carlo (best choreographer, company and work), Benois de la Danse in Moscow and Berlin, Honorary Medal from the President of the Czech Republic and Chevalier du Légion d'Honneur in France.

Resident Choreographer
Lightfoot León
The choreographers' duo Sol León and Paul Lightfoot have been Nederlands Dans Theater's house choreographer since mid 2002. Paul Lightfoot (Kingsley, England) and Sol León (Córdoba, Spain) met in 1987 as dancers at Nederlands Dans Theater I. Both of them danced in many new works by Jiří Kylián and Hans van Manen. Since the beginning of their collaboration in 1991 the two of them have created almost thirty ballets for the three companies of Nederlands Dans Theater.

Recently Paul Lightfoot and Sol León have been awarded the international dance prize Benois de la Danse for Signing Off (2005), the Herald Archangel (Edinburgh International Festival 2006) and the Dutch VSCD dance prize Zwaan for best dance production 2005-2006 with Shoot the Moon.

Programs
Gods and Dogs (2008)　Choreography: Jiří Kylián
This border, between "normality and insanity", between "health and sickness" and all the norms which determine the one or the other.

Said and Done (2001) 　Choreography: Lightfoot León
Said and Done, a Lightfoot León ballet dating from 2001, is about friendship and longing on one hand and about the blaring reality of everyday situations on the other.

Chapeau (2005)　Choreography: Jiří Kylián
In 2005 Kylián is planning something special for this programme with the young dancers of Nederlands Dans Theater II: a choreography with a royal edge. A lot of gold, music by Prince ("he is a prince after all, I could also have chosen Duke Ellington", jokes Kylián) and dancers with Royal hats.