dansMuseum
Reading Room
Explore and be inspired
The Reading Room features a collection of books devoted to dance and choreography in the Netherlands. Beginning in 2024 with a small selection of curated titles, the collection aims to develop into an online resource for information about books, articles, and periodicals related to dance in the Netherlands.
Book of the Month
Each month the dansMuseum spotlights a book on dance worth reading. Check out our previous books of the month here.
Dans! Denk! leven en werk van Krisztina de Châtel
Désanne van Brederode (Amsterdam: Querido, 2017)
'Thinking without a body is nothing at all.' In the spring of 2015, choreographer Krisztina de Châtel approached Désanne van Brederode to ask if she would write about her life and work, in relation to philosophy.
The result, Dance! Think!, is a book about the connection between moving and thinking. In De Châtel's words, “What matters is to show how much life, dance and thinking can be understood as a unity. Dancing can be as much a form of reflection as philosophizing is, and conversely, philosophizing presupposes movement.' A book about the importance of rhythm, about different layers of music, and about how a body expresses what resides within it (the soul?). But also about De Châtel's personal life, her parents, her youth in Hungary, being unrooted in the Netherlands, about love and commitment, teachers, teaching and being in the middle of the world.
Dance! Think! is a beautiful and inspiring book that came about in a special collaboration. A book about thinking with hands and feet. And especially with the heart.
Dance research in the Netherlands
In this anthology, you will find a collection of articles published by the Dutch Society for Dance Research in nine volumes of Danswetenschap in Nederland between the years 2000 and 2017.
De Nieuwe Dansbibliotheek
De Nieuwe Toneelbibliotheek has invited Fransien van der Putt to start a sister company, De Nieuwe Dansbibliotheek (The New Dance Library). Within the same format, a new series is being built to support Dutch dance.
Moderne dans in ontwikkeling
Moniek Merkx, Jeroen Fabius, Fransien van der Putt
Moderne dans in ontwikkeling provides a description of the Modern Dance Department of the Theaterschool Amsterdam against the background of historical and international dance developments. The first, historical section focuses on the pioneers of modern dance in Europe and the United States. Artists such as Delsarte and Dalcroze were already laying the foundations for a new artistic expression at the end of the last century, which, in addition to academic ballet, has now developed into a full-fledged and above all versatile dance form.
*Translated from Dutch
ND Publications
Throughout the years Nederlandse Dansdagen has published catalogues for some of its projects and exhibitions. Explore some of these publications below.
Act Your Age | 2013
The two-year dance project Act Your Age encouraged the European community to engage with the aging body through dance art.
Performing Gender | 2017
Performing Gender was a European dance project that used artistic and cultural tools to open a civil reflection on differences in gender and sexual orientation.
The Third Space | 2018
In support of the dansMuseum exhibition The Third Space, a publication was produced, providing insights into the performances selected for this exhibition and Krisztina de Châtel's working methods.
Extintus/Extantem | 2019
The dansMuseum's 3rd exhibition was presented in the form of a publication — a portable archive of articles, essays and interviews all centred on forgotten and lost movements in Dutch dance.
Read more?
Is there a book that you think is worth reading? Or do you have books that you want to donate to our collection? If so, please contact us at dansMuseum@nederlandsedansdagen.nl