TED BRANDSEN

The strongest pressure is the one I put on myself

According to the artistic director of Dutch National Ballet, pressure comes from inside, as he always wants to create the best season to attract the largest possible audience. Yet he is very optimistic for the future of ballet,  he keeps working to create a respectful environment, and he likes to take calculated risks. Here, he explains it all to Alessandro Bizzotto, and he reveals him why he thinks that making dancers happy is not his job

After stopping dancing in 1991 and starting a new job as a freelance choreographer, Ted Brandsen became artistic director of Dutch National Ballet in 2003. I met him for the first time five or six years ago, at the party after the opening night of a run of performances of “Giselle”, at the Muziektheater in Amsterdam. I immediately realized he is both a determined leader and a tactful, polite person.

He is known for being the one who rejuvenated both the image and the repertoire of the Dutch National Ballet, making the company one of the most acclaimed internationally. And at the same time he has always seemed calm and discreet. We connect via Teams this time, late in the afternoon, on the eve of his summer holiday and a few days after the gala performance held to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of Dutch National Ballet, attended, among others, by the king and the queen of The Netherlands.

Ted Brandsen in studio ©Liza Kollau