Ready made

Photo: Ger van Leeuwen

Choreographer: Hans van Manen

'Ready made' is an unconventional ballet, which premiered on the 15th of February 1967, while also first rehearsed that same date: a ballet in one day – inspired by the readymades by Marcel Duchamp. With this ballet, Hans van Manen wanted to investigate the capacity to respond to immediate impulses. Van Manen recalls that the reason behind this challenge, to both himself and the company, was rather silly: “I once saw a really bad ballet, and thought to myself, I could do this in one day.”

Even though the choreography strongly depends on the talents of the dancers to improvise, and their own creative abilities, this ballet has a six-piece plot that begins with a reverse striptease and ends with 24 dancers blacked out. The dancers, however, did not receive this plot until early in the morning.