Who is Hans van Manen

Learn More About the Legendary Choreographer

Dutch-born Hans van Manen 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 in his extremely musical ballets, which always concern human relationships, without becoming anecdotal.

Van Manen danced 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. From 1960 onwards, Van Manen has worked alternately with the two main dance companies of the Netherlands. After co-directing Nederlands Dans Theater for ten 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.

He has worked with many international stars including Anthony Dowell, Marcia Haydée, Natalia Makarova, Rudolf Nureyev, Ulyana Lopatkina, and Diana Vishneva.

For his individual ballets and 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 for his brilliant musicality. At the Hans van Manen Festival organized by Dutch National Ballet in celebration of his seventy-fifth 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. Besides being a choreographer, Hans van Manen has also been active as an extremely successful photographer for ten years. His work has been published in book form and shown at international exhibitions.

Joseph Walsh in van Manen’s *Solo* // © Erik Tomasson

You might recognize his work from previous SF Ballet seasons including Black Cake, Grosse Fuge, and Solo among others. A selection of van Manen’s works will be onstage in Starry Nights at Stanford Live July 26 and 27, and a comprehensive evening featuring his works will be featured in the 2024/25 Season.

VAN MANEN: DUTCH GRANDMASTER RUNS APRIL 5–19

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Bio courtesy of Dutch National Ballet