Didy Veldman

Contemporary

Biography:

In 1992, Didy Veldman started her own dance company ‘Alias’ with Guilherme Botelho in Geneva. Their first work ‘En Manqué’ was performed to great acclaim in London, Glasgow, Zurich and Lausanne. The production also won two major choreographic awards: the Dance Exchange International 1993 and the Prix Romand des Spectacles indépendents 1994. Didy Veldman left Alias after an invitation by Christopher Bruce to join Rambert Dance Company in 1994.

Whilst being a dancer with Rambert Dance Company, she created three works for the repertory. She received a grant from the Choo-San Goh & Robert Magee Foundation for her third production with Rambert and this production won the Linbury Prize for Stage Design created by Miriam Buether.

Didy left Rambert in 2000 to concentrate on her choreographic career. She has 22 years of freelance experience and has created over 45 new works for 27 international companies, such as Cedarlake, Goteborg Ballet, Ballet Gulbenkian, Iceland Dance Company, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, Lithuanian National Ballet, Leipzig Ballet, New Zealand Ballet, Scottish Dance Theatre, Northern Ballet, Cullberg Ballet, Komische Oper Berlin and Geneva Ballet, creating full evening story-telling works with symphony orchestra to smaller works as part of a triple bill. Before Covid she created a new work for Birmingham Royal Ballet ‘Sense of Time’ together with Composer Gabriel Prokofiev, which had its London premiere to great critical acclaim on 25 June 2019. She recently premiered a new full evening production of Carmen with Natalia Osipova and Isaac Hernandez to great critical acclaim. London performances will take place at the end of May ‘22 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

In 2016 she was selected to be part of the 8th rural retreat of future leaders in dance, at The Jerwood Dancehouse in Ipswich. She is now directing her own dance company ‘Humanoove' in London, which she founded in 2016 with support from Arts Council England, DanceEast and several trusts and private donors. She recently premiered her third production ‘@HOME’. ‘Humanoove’ performs nationally and internationally.

Didy also has a keen interest in teaching students, she is currently contemporary programme manager of the Royal Ballet School and she travels the world teaching contemporary classes and workshops. She has an affiliation with Prix de Lausanne, as a contemporary teacher and choreographer, she created a new work for the Partner School Choreographic Project in 2019 called ‘Is to B’ for 26 students. She will return to the Prix to teach during its anniversary in 2023. She has taught contemporary classes at the National Ballet School in Amsterdam, The Royal Ballet School in London, Codarts in Rotterdam, The Ballet Boyz in London, McDonald College in Sydney Australia, Rambert Dance Company and Rambert School and London School of Contemporary Dance amongst others and was invited in 2010, 2013 & 2018 as a Guest Artist Choreographer at the school of Jacob’s Pillow for their Contemporary Program. Didy was Co-Director of the Contemporary Program of the School at Jacob’s Pillow together with Milton Myers from 2019-2021. She has been part of audition, exam and assessment committees as well as a judge for choreographic competitions.