Roger Van der Poel

Stager

Roger was born in Portimão, Portugal, and received his dance training at the Dance School of the National Conservatory of Lisbon for two years. In 2003 he joined Ballet Gulbenkian, in 2004 he was invited by Philippe Cohen to join Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève where he stayed for two seasons. In 2016 Roger joined Nederlands Dans Theater 2 (NDT 2) and started dancing for NDT 1 in August 2009. In August 2020, Roger became a free-lance artist, educator and stager.

Roger staged Sol León & Paul Lightfoot’s Sleight of Hand, Silent Screen, Schmetterling, Stop-Motion, Speak for Yourself and Postscript on several renowned dance companies such as Zurich Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Ballet of Nuremberg State Theatre and Ballet of Bordeaux National Opera. He also staged Crystal Pite’s The Statement on Ballet BC and The Royal Ballet; and the collaboratively-created project Kunstkamer (León & Lightfoot /Goecke / Pite) on The Australian Ballet. With the Belgian company Peeping Tom, Roger guested as lead performer in Triptych: The missing door, The lost room and The hidden floor, reprising the role he originally created at NDT. In 2023, Van der Poel assisted Sol León on her latest creation at Staatsballett Berlin, Stars Like Moths. On Bayerisches Staatsballett, he staged Sol León & Paul Lightfoot´s Silent Screen and Schmetterling in the 2022/23 season, Subject to Change follows in the 2024/25 season.

(Information as of May 2025)