Leo Besseling

Career Trajectory

Besseling trained at Amsterdam's Balletacademie Nel Roos under Ivan Kramar before joining Het Nationale Ballet as a dancer in 1975, where he performed leading roles in classical and contemporary works while simultaneously establishing himself as a choreographer. His creative practice, spanning from 1975 through the mid-1980s, produced works that engaged with the formal innovations of contemporary ballet, including *This Way and That* and various workshop pieces for the company. Over nearly two decades with Het Nationale Ballet, he became a cornerstone of the Dutch classical ballet tradition, retiring in the early 1990s after contributing substantially to the company's artistic identity.