Hans van Manen, a native of Amstelveen, Netherlands, began his career as a dancer with the Ballets de Paris under Roland Petit. In the 1950s, he switched to choreography, creating 150 ballet titles during his lifetime that were performed around the world (including at the National Theater Ballet in Prague) and made van Manen one of the most prominent figures of his generation and of Dutch dance in general.
As a resident choreographer, he worked both at the leading Dutch ballet company, HET Nationale, which has been the home of the Hans van Manen Foundation since 2021 and owns the rights to the artist's entire repertoire, and at the modern dance company Nederlands Dans Theater. During his decades-long career, he has been awarded the Benois de la danse for his life's work and the Order of the Netherlands Lion, among other honors. In recent years, he has devoted himself more to photography than to choreography. He dedicated his 2024 photographs to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
His dance works were characterized by clean lines, restraint, and clear structures. Although he never told stories, his ballets reveal the relationships between the dancers, playing with stereotypes and breaking them down. His groundbreaking works include Grosse Fuge to the music of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Source: www.operaballet.nl
