Founded in 1978 by Jiri Kylian, and currently directed by Paul Lightfoot, Nederlands Dans Theatre 2 (NDT2) comprises 16 international dancers up to the age of 23. At the outset the company was envisaged as an internal training class for the original NDT and, although it retains a home with its parent company, it has evolved into a world-renowned contemporary dance company in its own right, performing to rave reviews and standing ovations across the globe.
As well as working with such luminaries as Jiri Kylian, NDT 2 consistently source cutting-edge and radical choreographers to create pieces for them, such as Lukas Timulak (Masculine/Feminine 2011) and Alexander Ekman (Cacti 2010). They devise theatrical feasts complete with striking stage sets, and transporting soundtracks as disparate as Franz Schubert and Jimi Hendrix.
NDT2 make waves wherever they go, forging new precedents for the rest of the dance world by combining spectacular technique (all of the company are classically trained) and flamboyant theatricality which embodies a youthful vitality. Medhi Walerski, a past NDT2 dancer and choreographer recalls: ‘I remember being in NDT2 and there being this huge energy and physical power. From the age of 20-23/24 you have this fire inside you, you’re ready to explode’.
