Ernst Meisner, new Artistic Director of Dutch National Ballet

Paul Arrowsmith talks to Ernst Meisner who takes over from Ted Brandsen as Artistic Director of Dutch National Ballet in 2026.

Ernst Meisner has held a newly created position at the Dutch National Ballet – Associate Director of Talent Development – since February last year, which includes being the Artistic Director of the Junior Company. He is also Artistic Director of the Dutch National Ballet Academy, a post he has held since 2018. From next year his job title will be simpler – Artistic Director of Dutch National Ballet. He takes over from Ted Brandsen, who has directed the company for over two decades, in August 2026.

43-year-old Meisner trained at the Nationale Ballet Academy in Amsterdam before finishing his studies at the Royal Ballet School. He was a dancer with The Royal Ballet for ten years until 2010, before moving back to his homeland to dance with Dutch National Ballet.

He was busy choreographing while dancing with both companies, in London and Amsterdam, but he ended his dancing career when he was just 31 to lead the Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company. Since then both the Dutch National Ballet and the Junior Company have danced many of his works.

Paul Arrowsmith talked to him after his new promotion was announced.

When you came to Dutch National Ballet from The Royal Ballet in 2010, you were still dancing and choreographing – did you ever envisage you would become the company’s director?

No, definitely not at that time! I was indeed still very much a dancer and enjoyed diving into different repertoire and choreographers in Amsterdam after ten fulfilling years at The Royal Ballet.

However, I had already been part of DanceEast’s Rural Retreat for Future Managers in 2009. Monica Mason had been incredibly supportive of me attending this event while still at The Royal Ballet and it clearly sparked my curiosity and interest of being on the managing side of a ballet company. So, I guess a seed had been planted.

What have been your highlights of the past 15 years?

That’s always tricky to answer, as so much happens every year!

A couple of important moments have definitely been able to lead the Junior Company and celebrate ten years of its existence last season, running Dutch National Ballet Academy (changing the Upper School system, setting up a teacher’s course and moving the school into new state-of-the-art facilities), being able to choreograph some exciting works for Dutch National Ballet and the Junior Company in collaboration with crossover dance company ISH Dance Collective.

Not least a very unexpected highlight was the connection with literally millions of people during Covid with the series of online ballet classes we made. I still receive postcards and messages from people from all around the world that take the classes, amazing!

However, I think I get most joy out of seeing young dancers do well. It is wonderful to now watch performances with our company and see dancers across all ranks that started in the Junior Company. Furthermore, receiving emails and updates from so many other ex-students and Junior Company dancers that are enjoying their careers elsewhere is very rewarding.

Finally, I must mention the collaboration with colleagues from across the globe. As we are navigating our way into an exciting future, I have really come to treasure these connections!

Ernst Meisner rehearsing Prometheus – photo by Altin Kaftira

How did you develop your longer-term career ambitions?

That is not something I am very busy with to be honest. I have been incredibly lucky to work with some of the best dancers and in wonderful organisations. Being in a position to be able to help these places and people move forward on a daily basis is the most rewarding thing.

I was always interested in teaching and coaching but also programming and the working of a company and theatre. So, I guess I was lucky to be in a place where I was also given space to develop my own skills in those areas. And it is not a secret that I am ambitious, but I am mainly ambitious for us as an organisation of people, wanting to make sure that we all can do the best possible at all times.

When we spoke in 2013, you were appreciative of your artistic directors, Monica Mason in London and Ted Brandsen in Amsterdam. What did you learn from them?

That appreciation has only grown!

I realise now how much space Ted has given me to grow and to find my own way of leading, while always being there to assist, inspire and quietly question when necessary. Our working relationship has definitely grown and is now also an incredible friendship.

Ted is amazing at giving people space, opportunities and in celebrating someone else’s success, while always being clear and setting exciting goals.

I recently saw Dame Monica at a performance of Northern Ballet in London and it is wonderful to now share ideas on a different level than when I was a dancer. Monica taught me so much as an artist in my dancer years, from her coaching in the studio (rehearsing Benvolio with her is something I will never forget!), to stories about the creation of some of The Royal Ballet’s most important works and the incredibly rich heritage and history of the company.

Monica always looked for the person behind the dancer and she cared for them immensely and that is how we grew as people and as artists.

And how may that influence you as director?

I have been lucky enough to have these two wonderful directors in my life, but I also have many other influences from choreographers, collaborators and other colleagues. Of course, I will take all that with me and at the same time I look forward to listening to the current generation of dancers and their views. I am sure Monica and Ted would do the same!

Do you feel the weight of the Brandsen legacy?

One can never forget all that Ted has built and how, more importantly, he has given enormous clarity to the direction and definition of what this company is and stands for. That is something that I will take forward and build on further. And then of course expand and explore what logically comes next.

Are there other directors that have an influence – you participated in a Dance East future leaders’ programme alongside Tamara Rojo…

Of course, we all look at what other people are doing in different places, and we are so much better these days at connecting with each other and also solving issues we all have together, as well as talking about the future of the artform together.

Actually, Ted, together with Assis Carreiro, has been amazing in initiating and bringing company directors together in Positioning Ballet and accommodating some of these very important conversations in 2017, 2019 and 2023 at Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam.

What I think is most exciting, though, is to see how different directors make companies stand out and specific to the country or location they are in. It is so exciting when we do not look the same. Although we all speak the language of ballet and dance, we must keep (and develop further) our own dialects!

Ernst Meisner’s Embers, part of the Made in NL programme with Léa Sauvignon and Alexander Álvarez Silvestre – photo by Altin Kaftira, Dutch National Ballet

What gives DNB its defining qualities?

Definitely its choreographers!

From Rudi van Dantzig (the company’s director for many years) of whom we still perform his productions of Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet, to Toer van Schayk and more recently David Dawson and Krzysztof Pastor. Together with productions by Ted himself and Rachel Beaujean the company has grown its own look and feel of the big story ballets and updated them. By doing so we have also developed a style that trickles through everything we do.

And that style and approach is also very much linked to the work of our resident choreographer Hans van Manen. The oeuvre of Hans is huge and so important for our dancers and audience and influences how we look at other work and how we dance other work as well. No frills!

Of course, I cannot forget to mention recently appointed associate artist Alexei Ratmansky of whom we have danced several ballets already, including a fabulous production of Don Quixote. And that makes sense, as we find the big classics very important, but at the same time are a company that is adventurous and always looking to explore the unknown, make new connections and find new makers that explore theatre and stories through a very physical approach. At Dutch National Ballet it is the body that tells the story.

How do you intend to develop those?

These concepts and this now very rich heritage of the company set the tone for the future. I will be looking for next steps with our current artistic associates and at the same time look for logical new additions to repertoire and new dancemakers that fit our profile. Choreographers that bring something new to the company but also fit in line with what we now call the Dutch School. We are looking at different ways of supporting choreographers at all levels of their careers and to reach out and open up to be surprised by new voices.

To build further means being adventurous and taking risk. Our company is best when we dare to challenge what is already there. I hope for us to grow in many directions at the same time. I am keen to build further and create and bring new stories, big ballets that make an impact, new versions of the classics and at the same time develop ballets, also in existing and new collaborations, that challenge and answer to everything that is happening in our world at the moment.

Can you give us a flavour of where you want to take the company, choreographers, range and balance of repertory… I hear there is a new Bayadère in development…

It is a little early to be doing so actually. Next season we still have a very exciting year ahead with what will be Ted’s last season. It will be announced soon, so I would say keep an eye on that, it is definitely jampacked with great stuff!

Do you get a blank canvas for your first season or are works already programmed?

As in any large opera house, we plan many years in advance. So, also what will be my first season has already been worked on for a longer period. However, of course I will want to get a bit of my signature in there as well.

What are the challenges of sharing an opera house, does the company have enough performances?

The ballet and the opera companies merged over ten years ago now and that has brought many strengths to the organisation. Many of the departments (from marketing to fundraising and technical departments) are shared and we all benefit from this sharing of resources.

In years to come we will continue to build on strengthening the connections between the two artforms, while of course making sure that we as a ballet company continue to grow in our own pathway.

Dutch National Ballet has around 100 performances, and on top of that tours nationally and internationally. Of course, we also have the Junior Company which has further shows and tours.

What is your funding regime like?

Dutch National Ballet is funded by both the City of Amsterdam as well as state funding. The revenue stream from sponsorship and private donations is becoming increasingly important. This will be an area that will require my attention in the future as well as it will continue to become even more urgent for us to fundraise for our own income.

And the range of your audiences?

We have a wonderful and loyal audience in Amsterdam and sales figures over the past years have been close to 100 per cent for almost all productions. That wasn’t always the case in the past and again shows the incredible work Ted has done in building the company and its audiences.

People love coming to full-lengths, but equally so to mixed programs and be challenged by new work.

Through some of the new and exciting productions where we have worked in collaboration with hip-hop dancers we have also tapped into a whole new audience. I am really hoping that with new stories we can continue to build on this growing diversity of our audience.

Last but not least, we opened last year our Studio Boekman, a small stage with 170 seats, where we can give opportunities to a whole new group of dancemakers, take risk and think out of the box, create new productions for families and explore new connections (like recently a very exciting experiment with AI and ballet). I am excited about making this space interact more with the repertoire on our main stage and open our doors to an even wider range of audiences.