Hans van Manen

Hans van Manen (Nieuwer-Amstel, the Netherlands, 1932) is internationally recognized as one of the grand masters of contemporary ballet. Including his works for television, he has created more than 150 ballets which all bear his distinct signature. Clarity in structure, refined simplicity, and an aversion to decorative frills form the key elements of his extremely musical ballets, which always concern human relationships without becoming anecdotal.

Van Manen had his first ballet lessons in the late 1940s from Sonia Gaskell, who engaged him in her group Ballet Recital in 1951. Van Manen went on to dance with the Netherlands Opera Ballet and Roland Petit's Ballets de Paris. In 1955, he made his debut as a choreographer with Olé, Olé, la Margarita. His third creation, Feestgericht, received the State Award for Choreography. Since 1960, van Manen has worked alternately with the two main dance companies of the Netherlands. After co-directing Nederlands Dans Theater for 10 years, he became a resident choreographer, first with the Dutch National Ballet (1973-1987) and then with Nederlands Dans Theater (1988-2003). Since 2005, he has once again held the post of resident choreographer with the Dutch National Ballet.

Besides being in the repertoires of Dutch National Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, and Introdans—the three Dutch “custodians” of his works—his ballets are also danced by over 90 companies outside the Netherlands. Whenever one of his ballets is staged, he is still intensively involved in the process. In the rehearsal studio, he has the last word in the interpretation of his work, and he adds the final touches in his own inimitable way.

For his individual ballets and for his great contribution to the arts in general, van Manen has received numerous awards including the Erasmus Prize, the Prix Benois de la Danse Life Achievement Award, the Grand Prix à la Carrière, the VSCD Oeuvre Prize, and the German Musikpreis. At the Hans van Manen Festival organized by Dutch National Ballet in celebration of his 75th birthday in 2007, the master choreographer was appointed a Commander in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. This was followed in 2017 by his appointment as a Commander in the French Ordre des Lettres et des Arts, and in 2018 King Willem-Alexander presented him with the Honorary Medal for Arts and Science of the Order of the House of Orange for his “enormous contribution to the arts in the Netherlands and to ballet in particular.”

Since 2013, van Manen has been the patron of the Dutch National Ballet Academy, and he became a member of the Society of Arts in 2015. Van Manen is also a successful photographer whose work has been published in book form and shown at international exhibitions.