The National Opera and Ballet announced Ted Brandsen, the director of the Dutch National Ballet, will retire at the end of the 2025-2026 season.
Associate artistic director Rachel Beaujean will also be leaving the company at the end of the 2025-2026 season, on reaching retirement age.
Brandsen and Beaujean were both born in 1959. Brandsen, who has been the director of the Dutch National Ballet since 2003, joined the Dutch National Ballet as a dancer in 1981. After stopping dancing in 1991, he created many choreographies and also worked in Australia.
Beaujean had a career as a dancer for 20 years after joining the company in 1977. She has been has been associate artistic director of the company since 2017.
In separate news, Timothy van Poucke received the Special Prize from Stichting Dansersfonds ’79 as he is the first Dutch male dancer to become Principal of the Dutch National Ballet since 1995. He was promoted to the rank in 2023. He joined the company in 2016.
Olga Smirnova received the Alexandra Radius Prize 2024 in September. The Alexandra Radius Prize is an initiative of the Friends of Dutch National Ballet.