Dutch choreographer Nanine Linning will be the new artistic director of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. She succeeds Ed Wubbe who set the artistic course for thirty years. Ed Wubbe will remain associated with Scapino as artistic director until December 2024. Nanine Linning was resident choreographer at Scapino from 2001 to 2006, after which she founded her own dance company. She will start in August 2024 alongside Ed Wubbe, who will retire at the end of December 2024. In the years 2023 and 2024, it will already be intensively involved in, among other things, the development of the new Multi-year Policy Plan 2025 – 2028.
Nanine Linning has gained international acclaim over the past twenty years for her large multidisciplinary productions in which dance and opera, design, fashion and visual arts come together. With her strong visual language and explosive dance she reaches a wide audience, which also follows her faithfully in the Netherlands. Performances such as Bacon , Requiem and Zero received international acclaim. Nanine Linning works closely with various internationally renowned artists such as Teodor Currentzis, Alexandros Tsolakis, Yuima Nakazato, Alexey Retinsky and Studio Drift. Her collaborations with Iris van Herpen and Bart Hess led to exhibitions in various museums.
From 2009 to 2018, Linning was the artistic director of the dance companies of the city theatres Theater Osnabrück and Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, where she also co-founded a production house and a festival. Since then she has worked with companies such as Boston Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Bayerische Staatsballet and musicaeterna, as well as with the Nederlandse Reisopera and Nederlands Kamerkoor in collaboration with her own German dance company.
Nanine Linning will be the fifth artistic director in the 76-year existence of Scapino, the oldest dance company in the Netherlands. Scapino was founded in 1945 as a youth dance company by Mrs. Hans Snoek. She was succeeded in 1970 by Armando Navarro, who introduced major family shows such as De Notenkraker and Pulcinella . After a two-year leadership of Nils Christe, Ed Wubbe became artistic director in 1993.
Under the leadership of Ed Wubbe, Scapino grew into a high-profile and innovative dance company. With his large-scale thematic productions in which he merges several disciplines, he has enriched dance and brought it to a large audience. In addition, he has given many young talents a prominent place in the company. Ed Wubbe made more than seventy choreographies for Scapino, including successful pieces such as Pearl, TING! and Oscar .
Fatimazhra Belhirch, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam: “By choosing Nanine, Scapino Ballet Rotterdam can prepare for a new, exciting chapter in its almost 80-year existence. The Supervisory Board is confident that Nanine, in close collaboration with Scapino’s passionate and professional team, can further develop the company’s position in the city of Rotterdam and that the repertoire will attract a large audience on the many Dutch stages that Scapino on an annual basis. The international ambitions will also be further expanded under the leadership of Nanine Linning. The Supervisory Board looks forward to working with Nanine.”
Nanine Linning: “I am honoured to be able to write a new chapter in the history of this adventurous company. Ground-breaking thinking, collaboration with other disciplines and a good sense of the zeitgeist are qualities of Scapino with which I feel strongly connected. I look forward to working in culturally vibrant Rotterdam and sharing our passion for the art of dance with a broad (inter)national audience.”
11th January 2023
