Artistic Director of Nederlands Dance Theater (NDT), Emily Molnar, has guided the company in a time of exceptional change. “As a performer, especially with [William] Forsythe, we were constantly focusing on risk,” she points out. “Adaptivity is the place I feel most alive. For a company that has a 60-year history, to live in risk and adaptability is a big challenge. We have a culture within the company that craves risk. It’s not about knowing where the end result will be.”
Molnar danced with The National Ballet of Canada, and Frankfurt Ballet under Forsythe. She followed her success as a performer, with success in leadership, as the Artistic Director of Ballet BC, and head of dance at Banff Centre before stepping into the role at NDT.
One of the legacies of former NDT Artistic Director Jiří Kylián’s artistic oeuvre is that the company can connect with innovative collaborators. Among the distinctive projects that will be recognised as part of Molnar’s leadership at NDT is the collaboration with UK-based Théâtre de Complicité. Figures in Extinction is a trilogy created in collaboration with Simon McBurney, and NBT’s resident choreographer Crystal Pite.
“I was really asking the company to collaborate in a different way,” Molnar says. “I was asking NDT to adapt and be more flexible, to allow Simon’s creative process to exist in this company.” English actor and playwright Simon McBurney founded Théâtre de Complicité, which has been described by The Times UK as ‘the most influential and consistently interesting theatre company in Britain.’
“We had to make space for two very curious individuals into a process,” says Molnar. Crystal Pite danced at Ballet BC before Forsythe and NDT. “Her associate choreographer position was up for renewal when I was entering the company. One of the key things for me was – if Crystal stayed with us. I asked what hadn’t we done? She brought up the idea of working with Simon. They are both so busy it seemed unlikely.”
Molnar continues, “We have never had a project span four years. It pushed the entire organisation. All our departments were collaborating with Théâtre de Complicité’s departments. It was delicious havoc. I believed so strongly in it. Because of how it came about. Usually things are falling apart, and are very complex. Things aligned.”
Molnar describes the shared creative process. “Crystal took the lead; he responded. He took the lead; she responded. They both use devices that allow levity, they have that ability in their work. At the same time, they are grappling with really urgent questions. As a result, we are a more awake and creative house. I’m trying to break down where the creative act goes. We are continuing to build works for the stage. We have a digital theatre. I have developed a makers platform, and I’m interested in researching things in different ways. For example, what if we do a workshop that is about imperfection and AI?”
She adds, “We are also trying things like inviting the audience into movement classes before they watch a show. How many different ways can we build connections with audiences and be creative? We are also trying to share our resources (for example, with microresidencies). Space can be very substantive to a choreographer.”
Figures In Extinction can be seen in Paris and London in October and November 2025, and in Manchester, Luxembourg and Berlin in February 2026. For more information, visit www.ndt.nl.
By Tamara Searle of Dance Informa.
