Bregje van Balen

Biography

She was a prominent dancer for 18 years with the Netherlands Dance Theatre (NDT) I and II. Born on January 11, 1971, in Haarlem, Netherlands, she received her ballet training at the Nationale Ballet Academie in Amsterdam. While she was dancing, she began a second career as costume designer. She had a unique understanding, as a dancer, that allowed her to know just how to highlight movement with her choice of fabrics and design. Her interest for costume design started in 1995 when she created her first costumes for the annual NDT Workshop and small dance projects.

After her dance career she entered the Baruch Mode Academie to reschool herself as a designer.

Since then, van Balen was invited to work for several theaters, creating for dance, opera and theatre: Netherlands Dance Theatre 1 and 2, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, the Norwegian National Ballet , Compania Nacional de Danza, Gothenburg Ballet, Malmö Stadsteater, Hamburg Ballet, Gyori Ballet, South Bohemian Dancetheater, Royal Swedish Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Opera de Lyon, Pushkin theater Moscow, Staatstheater Mainz, Aalto Theater and Nationaltheater Mannheim, Stanislavsky Music Theatre Ballet.

She has worked with the choreographers Patrick Delcroix, Jerome Meyer & Isabelle Chaffaud, Cora Bos Kroese, Wubkje Kuindersma, Jorma Elo, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Kaloyan Boyadjiev, Garrett Smith, Johan Inger, Jo Strømgren and Alexander Ekman among others.