Choreographer Hans van Manen (93) passed away

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Hans van Manen, a founding member of Nederlands Dans Theater. Over more than 65 years, he daringly shaped dance in the Netherlands and internationally with his visionary and rebellious artistic expression. Hans van Manen was fundamental to the identity and history of Nederlands Dans Theater.

Often described as the Mondrian of Dance, his work was marked by clarity, risk, energy, humour, and swing. He was also a pioneer for the LGBTQIA+ community, giving visibility to queer identity in dance at a time when this was far from self-evident.

Hans van Manen was a founding member of NDT and played a defining role in the history of Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). From 1959 to 1971, he was connected to the company as a dancer and choreographer, and from 1961 as Artistic Director. Between 1988 and 2003, he returned as resident choreographer and remained closely involved in rehearsing his repertoire.

‘Maan in de Trapeze’ – Hans van Manen. Dancers: Alexandra Radius en Jaap Flier. Photo: Boris Lipnitzki

His oeuvre comprises more than 120 works, 62 of which were created for NDT 1, NDT 2, and NDT 3. The first work he created for NDT was De Maan in de Trapeze, which premiered in 1959. His final creations for the company include Short Cut (1999), Trilogy (2000), Two Faces (2000), Simple Things (2001) and Monologue, Dialogue (2003). The work Situation, originally created for NDT in 1970, returned to the NDT 1 programme Soir Historique in 2019.

We are deeply grateful to Hans van Manen for his inexhaustible creative spirit, inspiration, and artistic leadership. Through his work, he has left an enduring mark on our company and on the dance world as a whole.

Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. We wish them strength in this difficult time.

Browse through more stories about the works Hans van Manen created for NDT in our archive on Google Arts & Culture