Born in Amsterdam on 04/08/1933. He received dance lessons in Amsterdam from Dutch-Lithuanian Sonia Gaskell, who included him in her professional group early on and guided him in his first choreographic work in Night Island [Nachteiland] (1951). He was hired in the newly set-up Dutch National Ballet in 1955. He choreographed ballets of the classical repertoire (Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake) and more than 50 original works. “A crossbreed between classical and modern dance”, his choreographies expressed the atmosphere of the 1960’s, registering a strong European response to the deductively modernist choreographies of the Americans. He brought Dutch ballet into the international limelight in the second half of the 20th century. As a politically minded and sensitized homosexual he highlighted the issue of social rejection and repression in the agenda of his choreographies. He collaborated closely with Rudolf Nureyev, who interpreted the leading role in his work Monument for a Dead Boy [Monument voor een gestorven jongen] (1965), drawing a series of international orders. Works of his were mounted, among others, by London’s Royal Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet. He acted as director of the Dutch National Ballet in the period 1971-1991, laying emphasis on modern dance, with choreographies of George Balanchin, Frederick Ashton, Hans van Manen, Ter van Schaik and of his own. He was also noted for his writing activity. Among other things, he published a biography of the Dutch artist and resistance fighter Willem Arondeus, and the autobiographical novel For a Lost Soldier [Voor een Verloren Soldaat], which was made into a film (1992). He has received a lifetime achievement award and was made knight. He died on 19/01/2012. He choreographed the first full mounting of the Romeo and Juliet ballet by the Greek National Opera (1993/4, Odeon of Herod Atticus).