Hans van Manen
Choreographer
Born in Nieuwer-Amstel (now Amstelveen) in 1932, van Manen received his first ballet lessons from Sonia Gaskell in the late 1940s. She included him in her group Ballet Recital in 1951. Van Manen then danced with the Nederlandse Opera Ballet and Roland Petit's company Les Ballets de Paris. He made his debut as a choreographer in 1955 with Olé, Olé, la Margarita. In 1960, he joined the newly founded Nederlands Dans Theater in The Hague, where he became artistic co-director with Benjamin Harkarvy in 1961 and Glen Tetley in 1969. In 1973 he became house choreographer at Het Nationale Ballet, from 1988 to 2003 he worked in the same capacity again at the NDT, and from 2005 again at Het Nationale Ballet. Van Manen has also choreographed for the Scapino Ballet in Rotterdam, the Royal Ballet, the Vienna State Opera Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet and the Ballett am Rhein. He has received numerous awards, including the German Dance Prize (1993) and the Prix Benois de la Danse for his life's work (2005). His choreographies often broke with convention, such as the male duet Metaforen (1965), the dance-film hybrid Mutations (1979), created together with Glen Tetley, or the piece Live (1979) with the use of a video camera.
In 1994 Hans van Manen created the duet Nacht for the Bayerisches Staatsballett (then danced by Christina McDermot and Oliver Wehe), and the company also included the pieces Vijf Tango's, Three Pieces and Trois Gnossiennes (all 1991), Lieder ohne Worte (1992), Déjà vu (1996), Sarcasmen and Black Cake (both 1996), Concertante (1999), Kammerballett (2001), Solo (2004), The Old Man and Me and Two (both 2005), as well as Adagio Hammerklavier (2008) into its repertoire. The Bavarian State Opera Ballet had already performed Grosse Fuge in the 1973/74 season, Ajakaboembie, Snippers and Septett Extra in the 1974/75 season and Three Pieces in the 1990/91 season.