“The performers of Nederlands Dans Theater fuse exacting execution and creative ambition to create grotesque, haunting, and sublime images” was the opening line of Broadway World’s review in March 2020, a day after the first performance of NDT 1 in New York City Center.
The quote typifies a company that is praised worldwide for dancers who are both as technically gifted as they are exceptionally virtuoso. “Good technique and a healthy body are important, but NDT mainly looks for dancers with a strong personality,” said artistic director Paul Lightfoot in an interview in 2019. “Collectively, our dancers may not easily fit into a ‘corps de ballet’ – NDT doesn’t have ranks – but each artist is unique in their qualities and musicality. It is precisely the combination of those different, powerful characters that leads to such beauty.”
