YOU WILL HAVE NO IDEA UNTIL YOU SIT DOWN: Paul Lightfoot

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We were so happy to have the privilege of squeezing in an interview with Paul Lightfoot, Artistic Director of Nederlands Dans Theater, while he was briefly in town for New York City Center’s 2018 Fall for Dance Festival. Paul’s lively enthusiasm made for a conversation that was both informative and entertaining! He shared insight into what he and Sol León each bring to the table in their long-standing choreographic/life partnership, described the origin of the pieces that NDT2 will be presenting at City Center in January (16th-19th), and painted a great picture of the bold history of NDT. Of course we also had to express our awe for NDT’s famously prolific dancers, with whom Paul claims to be “in love, with each and every one of them!” Get tickets here to see NDT in January!

Paul Lightfoot is Artistic Director of NDT. He joined the company in 1985, starting as a dancer with NDT 2. Two years later Lightfoot joined NDT 1, where he danced until 2008. During this time, he started choreographing in collaboration with Sol León. León and Lightfoot have been a prolific and widely known choreographic duo since 1989. Together they have created more than fifty pieces for the company, for which they have received prestigious awards. In 2002 León and Lightfoot were appointed house choreographers for NDT. In 2011, Lightfoot was appointed Artistic Director.

Nederlands Dans Theater is recognized as one of the most prolific and creative contemporary dance companies in the world. It consists of two multi-national companies: NDT 1 and NDT 2. The latter gives classically trained dancers (between the ages of 17 and 23) a chance to develop their artistic personalities during a three-year trajectory. NDT 1 consists of 28 dancers, each one excelling in their solo qualities and renowned for their versatility, astonishing technique and virtuosic expression. Since its inception in 1959, NDT has built a rich, ambitious and idiosyncratic repertoire of over 600 works by master choreographers such as Jiří Kylián and Hans van Manen, León and Lightfoot, associate choreographers Crystal Pite and Marco Goecke, and high-profile guests such as Ohad Naharin, Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Hofesh Shechter, Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar, and many many more.