Rachel Beaujean

Rachel Beaujean received her ballet training at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, joined Dutch National Ballet in 1977 and was promoted to soloist in 1981. She took up the position of ballet mistress in 1997 and has held the post of head of the artistic staff since 2003. Since 2017, Rachel Beaujean has been Associate Artistic Director of the renowned company. She danced roles from the classical repertoire as well as works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Martha Graham, Eduard Lock, Rudi van Dantzig, Toer van Schayk and Ted Brandsen. She became especially well known for her interpretations of the work of Hans van Manen, for whom she was a muse for many years. As ballet mistress, one of Rachel Beaujean’s tasks is to rehearse the ballets of Hans van Manen. For Dutch National Ballet, she has also created her own version of »Les Sylphides«, a revised production of »Giselle« in collaboration with Ricardo Bustamante, and a new production of »Paquita«. In April 2022, her version of »Raymonda« based on Marius Petipa, created together with Ted Brandsen, will premiere in Amsterdam. Rachel Beaujean is a board member of the Dutch Dance Festival, the Foundation Toer van Schayk and the Hans van Manen Foundation. In 1993 she won the Golden Dance Theatre Award of the VSCD (Association of Theatre and Concert Hall Directors), followed by the Award of Merit of the Stichting Dansersfonds ‘79 in 1995. In 2017 she was awarded Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.