Nederlands Dans Theater

From our home in The Hague, Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) helps shape contemporary dance in the Netherlands and far beyond.
As a home for creation, we invite you to discover our world. Get to know our two companies, our people, our way of working, our community initiatives and values, and how you can become part of NDT.

A female dancer in front of large projection screen with a yellow flower on it.

Our story

Founded in 1959 and based in The Hague, Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) is one of the world’s leading contemporary dance companies. Research, creation, production, and development lie at the heart of everything we do.

As a house of creation, NDT offers distinctive experiences and perspectives in dance. We bring together a diverse range of artists, using movement as a universal language to engage and connect. Every collaboration is driven by creative curiosity and a shared commitment to excellence. By championing artists and their work, NDT is an artistic force that commissions, creates, and presents work, shaping the conditions for deep creative exploration and the development of bold, new choreography.

NDT is led by Artistic Director Emily Molnar and Managing Director Marc Pil. Through our two companies, NDT 1 and NDT 2, we continue to push artistic boundaries by collaborating with both emerging and internationally renowned choreographers and artists. While honouring our rich history, we actively shape the future of contemporary dance and connect with audiences in the Netherlands and around the world.

Founded by Benjamin Harkarvy, Aart Verstegen, and Carel Birnie, in collaboration with 18 dancers from the Dutch National Ballet (then known as Nederlands Ballet), NDT has forged its own path in contemporary dance. Over the decades, celebrated choreographers such as Jiří Kylián and Hans van Manen have helped shape the company’s distinctive identity, earning international acclaim and establishing NDT as a global leader in dance.

Since its founding, the company has built a rich repertoire of more than 620 works by renowned choreographers, including William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar, Gabriela Carrizo, Franck Chartier, Hofesh Shechter, Johan Inger, Sol León & Paul Lightfoot, Christos Papadopoulos, Alexander Ekman, Jan Martens, and many others.

Long-standing relationships with Associate Choreographers are central to NDT’s artistic identity. In 2025, we were proud to expand this group: alongside Marco Goecke and Crystal Pite, we welcomed Marcos Morau, Jermaine Spivey, and Imre van Opstal & Marne van Opstal.

Each year, around 220,000 people engage with NDT through performances on stage and online. Our education programmes reach 60,000 children and young people, and digital platforms extend our reach far beyond the theatre.

Artistic Director

Since 2020, Emily Molnar has been Artistic Director of NDT, leading the company into a new era of creativity. Under her direction, NDT has embraced a dynamic artistic vision, introducing over 35 choreographers to the company and fostering ambitious, award-winning collaborations. This reflects a strong commitment to nurturing artists and supporting new and diverse voices. These collaborations include Figures in Extinction with Associate Choreographer Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney/Complicité, as well as the renewed version of Into the Hairy with S-E-D.

Molnar introduced the Dancer Pathway and Maker Pathway at NDT, establishing a holistic framework for artistic development that nurtures exceptional talent at every stage of a creative career. Designed to support dancers and makers alike, these pathways create sustained opportunities for research, training, talent development and creation, while contributing to the wider arts sector through long-term investment in artistic practice.

Building on this vision, Molnar cultivated enduring relationships with artists through inviting them to be Associate Choreographers with the company, first forging longer-term collaborations with Crystal Pite and Marco Goecke. In season 2025–2026, she expanded this model to include Marcos Morau, Jermaine Spivey, and Imre van Opstal & Marne van Opstal, creating the conditions for these artists to deepen their practice, take creative risks, and extend their influence across the international dance landscape.

Through her vision, Molnar is positioning NDT not only as a producer of world-class work, but as a leading incubator for choreographic innovation and the next generation of artistic leadership.

The atmosphere is intense and expressive; Maša Anić touches her ears, the group radiates focus and unity.

Two companies

NDT consists of two companies: NDT 1 and NDT 2. While both share the same artistic vision, each company has its own energy and distinct artistic voice.

NDT 1

NDT 1 is a collective of 28 exceptional dancers from around the world, aged 24 and over, each bringing a distinctive artistic voice while forming an ensemble of extraordinary unity. Renowned for their theatricality, virtuosity, and unparalleled expressive range, they collaborate with internationally acclaimed choreographers and artists to create large-scale, award-winning productions that continually redefine the possibilities of contemporary dance.

Meet the NDT 1-dancers

NDT 2

NDT 2 was founded in 1978 as a springboard for young talent and has become an internationally recognised company for artistic development, equipping generations of dancers with technical excellence, collaborative skills and creative versatility. NDT 2 focuses on exceptionally talented dancers aged 19 to 23 who are at the beginning of their professional careers. Watching NDT 2 perform means experiencing the energy of dancers who are discovering their unique artistic voice.

Together, the two companies foster experimentation and artistic growth, working with choreographers ranging from emerging voices to internationally acclaimed artists, while touring extensively across the Netherlands and around the world. Through this dual-company model, NDT has remained one of the world's leading forces in contemporary dance, creating a remarkable body of new work each season and continually shaping the evolution of the art form.

Meet the NDT 2-dancers

Talent Development & Education

As a leading dance company, we see it as our responsibility to share the power and joy of dance with the people and communities around us. We're also driven to support the future of dance and contribute to the continued development of the art form. We organise a series of the education-, participation-, and talent development programmes to support this mission.

Our education programmes mainly focus on primary schools, for example through projects such as Dancer in the Classroom and dance apps. For secondary schools, we offer tailored educational programmes developed in close collaboration with teachers and schools. We also organise workshops and projects for children and youngsters living in asylum seeker centers, creating space for connection, creativity, and confidence.

Audience engagement is at the heart of NDT. We connect people with dance through performances, but also through workshops, movement classes, talks, community events and digital experiences that invite curiosity, reflection and dialogue. Our goal is to make contemporary dance accessible to diverse audiences and create meaningful connections that extend beyond the theatre.

Our talent development programmes support dancers and makers from amateur to (pre-)professional level. These include projects such as the NDT Summer Intensive and the Maker Pathway.