Dutch National Opera & Ballet welcomed us in Amsterdam
Dutch National Opera to welcome for the first time the Opera Europa conference to Amsterdam is an event of tremendous importance.
Coinciding with the end of a season dedicated to marking the fifty years of the Company, this gathering celebrates the cosmopolitan character of our Company and the multiple connections which bind it to the vibrant European networks that keep our art-form alive, relevant, and in constant transformation. DNO’s work has also evolved on multiple levels over the last three decades I have been in charge.
More than ever cooperation and sharing are key to the survival of opera companies. Whilst opera is per definition a global artistic phenomenon, it remains profoundly rooted in how local cultures embrace it or resist it.
Those trends are changing rapidly as political upheavals define new realities which impact on managerial policies and on the visions of artists working in our field.
In this context, Opera Europa is a beacon of hope and a platform that empowers us and inspires us as a collective, to defend, develop and extend the spiritual and socio-political role opera must play in every society today and tomorrow.
Amsterdam is proud to set the stage for such debates and play its modest but significant role in supporting and encouraging dialogue and defending the necessity to risk, question and intensify the potential of opera as a great unifier and one whose appeal to the young can never be stressed enough.
Pierre Audi, Artistic Director, Dutch National Opera & Ballet
Practical information
Registration
Conference registration includes participation at all sessions and social events, as well as a ticket to one performance of your choice. Additional seats are available for purchase. Additional tickets 50€ each for opera and 30€ each for ballet.
>> Click here for the list of participants
>> General Assembly of Members agenda
Ballet Companies at the Opera Europa Conference
Expect to see more ballet company representatives than usual at the Opera Europa Spring Conference in Amsterdam.
This is in part because the conference this year is hosted by both the Dutch National Opera and Ballet companies.
It is also the realisation of a plan for regular dance company meetings that began some time ago
In January 2015, Dance USA, the organisation serving dance across North America, convened a meeting in London that included managing directors of large dance companies from the US, Canada, Europe and Australia.
The gathering was held at the Royal Opera House and was very successful as all who attended can attest.
It was so successful in fact that there was enthusiasm for European companies to get together, perhaps once a year, to continue the discussions.
Because of the special inclusion of ballet in this year’s conference programme, it seemed like a good idea for dance organisations to meet under the umbrella of Opera Europa.
The ballet companies are delighted to be joining our opera colleagues in Amsterdam. We know the value of learning from one another and thank Opera Europa for welcoming us to this conference!
Valerie Wilder
