Obituary: Rudi van Dantzig, who inspired Rudolf Nureyev and introduced social politics and passion to contemporary ballet

Published on Wednesday 25 January 2012 00:32

Born: 4 August, 1933, in Amsterdam. Died: 19 January, 2012, in Amsterdam, aged 78.

Rudi van Dantzig was an inspirational figure in the world of ballet, and was particularly recognised in Holland, where he created more than 50 ballets, many of which are still performed. He created three ballets for Rudolf Nureyev when the dancer was keen to branch away from the classic roles and learn contemporary works. It was significant that the famous dancer went to Van Dantzig to learn a totally new discipline: the latter’s patience and charm proved invaluable.

Van Dantzig’s ballets are often narrative in character with much social awareness, often exploring freedom, human aspirations, hope and homosexuality in society. He did create his own productions of the Tchaikovsky ballets and Romeo and Juliet but his desire to push back the boundaries of the convention was his paramount artistic concern.

Rudi van Dantzig was six when the Germans invaded the Netherlands and during those fraught five years of occupation he was separated from his parents and lived in the countryside.

In 1991 he relived those years when he wrote an acclaimed autobiographical novel, For a Lost Soldier, telling of his harsh experiences and including the story of a post-Liberation love affair he had with a Canadian soldier. It was told with much tenderness and sympathy and made into a film in 1994.

When he was 15 he saw the film The Red Shoes, starring Moira Shearer, and became smitten with ballet. He was fortunate that the founder of the Dutch National Ballet, Sonia Gaskell, overlooked his late start and focused on his zeal, energy and intelligence.

He became a company member, and by 1955 had choreographed his first ballet.

Van Dantzig was becoming particularly interested in contemporary ballet and after studying in New York he returned to Amsterdam in 1959 to found the Netherlands Dance Theatre. But he drifted back to Dutch National and took over its administration in 1968.

He brought to the company a rare combination of administrative ability and a drive to create new ballets with dancers he had hand-picked. Van Dantzig had the ability to bring together both the classical and the modern schools of dance, once describing himself as a “sort of bastard between classical ballet and modern.”

That was what attracted Nureyev and when Dutch Rudi said it would take Russian Rudi three weeks to learn Monuments for a Dead Boy the latter replied: “Two or three days… nothing more.”

Van Dantzig slowly taught Nureyev this new language of movement and when the company visited London a year later Van Dantzig had a huge success with Nureyev being recognised as a contemporary dancer of note.

The two forged a strong friendship and Nureyev returned to Amsterdam to have two further ballets created by Van Dantzig: Blown in a Gentle Wind and About a Dark House. Van Dantzig wrote a book, Nureyev, the Trail of a Comet, which lovingly detailed their 25 years of friendship and as colleagues.

Van Dantzig brought to all his ballets a certain edginess and political perception. He represented the changing face of society with a vigour that never reduced the ballet’s theatricality. In Sans Armes, Citoyens he drew inspiration from his involved personal life and extended it to address social issues. It was a paean to freedom and equality and a rejection of all violence.

Van Dantzig always concentrated on social issues which advanced the concept of ballet away from its classical roots. He used electronic music and solo percussion sounds that fitted with his contemporary choreography. This very personal style is probably best seen Monuments for a Dead Boy (1965), Epitaph (1969), a mediation into death, and Ropes of Time, which Van Dantzig choreographed for the Royal Ballet with Nureyev in 1970.

A member of the company, Han Ebbelaar, remembered his former director: “Rudi’s work radiated style and colour. It looked fantastic. That was his strongest side. He was a lovely man, very emotional.”

In September 1991 he stood down as artistic director when he was diagnosed with cancer.

Van Dantzig is regarded as one of modern ballet’s most innovative and original forces. With fellow choreographer Hans van Manen and set designer Toer van Schayk, he revolutionised Dutch National Ballet, which is now one of the most innovative international companies.

His works were not often danced by the UK companies and only one has been performed at the Edinburgh Festival: Movements in a Rocky Landscape in 1974. He remained a delightfully modest man, cheerfully cycling around Amsterdam and living is the same house with his partner, Toer van Schayk, who survives him.

ALASDAIR STEVEN

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