THE HAGUE In Masters of Movement, three master choreographers of contemporary ballet come together in a dynamic programme presented at Dutch National Opera & Ballet from Tuesday 9 through Friday 19 June.

 

The programme has been specially curated by director Ted Brandsen around Associate Artists Alexei Ratmansky and David Dawson, and former resident choreographer KrzysztofPastor. It also marks the final regular ballet programme under Brandsen’s direction. On Thursday 2 July, Brandsen will bid farewell publicly as director of Dutch National Ballet during the annual ballet gala.

 

The programme sees the return of David Dawson’s Empire Noir. Krzysztof Pastor creates Refraction, his first new work for Dutch National Ballet since 2014. Alexei Ratmansky presents Solitude, a ballet never before seen in Europe.

 

Like Dawson, Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor danced for many years with Dutch National Ballet, where both artists also created their first choreographies. Both later became resident choreographers with the company before embarking on international careers. Pastor currently focuses primarily on his role as artistic director of Polish National Ballet. Refraction (world premiere) centres on the ideas of bending and transformation in energy and movement. In the first and third sections, sixteen dancers move together and apart, creating waves that bend, reflect, and multiply. In the second section, a duet mirrors the hypnotic rhythm of Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The costumes by Tatyana van Walsum are made from recycled PET bottles, creating a striking visual effect.

 

The second ballet in Masters of Movement is the European premiere of a work by world-renowned American-Ukrainian master choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, who since 2024 has been the second Associate Artist — alongside Dawson.

Praised by The New York Times as “a superb and haunting work”, Solitude portrays a father’s loneliness following the loss of his child, set against the backdrop of the war between Russia and Ukraine. In a stark and shadowy setting, bodies constantly balance on the edge, dangerously tilting and bending in their struggle to remain upright. Grief and solitude are palpable from the very beginning in this deeply moving work set to music by Gustav Mahler.

 

British choreographer David Dawson created Empire Noir (2015) as his first work after being appointed Associate Artist of Dutch National Ballet. The ballet is “about choreography, about dancers and how they relate to one another”. The result is a rollercoaster of virtuosity, centred around the almost manic urge that can reveal itself in dreams at night.

“(...) the dancing is filled with gorgeously inventive, seamless swirling lifts and ice-skater-like turns.” (The New York Times)

“(...) David Dawson’s overwhelming opening choreography (...) a torrent of top-level ballet technique.” (de Volkskrant)

“A stylistically formidable choreography.” (Theaterkrant)