Four Last Songs

Rudi van Dantzig was an internationally recognised pioneer of modern classical ballet, creating over 50 ballets in his lifetime, many still being performed around the world. He was known for his signature musical and movement style, as well as for creating ballets with strong themes of social engagement.

Van Dantzig was born in Amsterdam in 1933 and started his dancing career in 1952 at Sonia Gaskell’s Ballet Recital. In 1955 he created his first ballet Night Island and in 1961 would join the newly established Dutch National Ballet as Resident Choreographer.

In 1965 he would become the Artistic Co-Director of the Dutch National Ballet and then the sole Director in 1971, a position that he held until 1991. Throughout his time with the Company, he created a number of original works, often collaborating with Toer van Schayk as dancer and sometimes set and costume designer. He would also guest choreograph for a number of other ballet companies, including Ballet Rambert, The Royal Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and the Bat-Dor Company.

Later in his life van Dantzig received great renown as an author, publishing his first book For a Lost Soldier in 1986, an autobiographical novel based on his relationship with a Canadian soldier during WWII. He spent his last years writing Memories of Sonia Gaskell, which was published in June 2013, after his death on 19 January 2012.

In 1991 he was made an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau and in 2002 was awarded the Benois de la Danse Lifetime Achievement Award.