Bonnie Doets quits dancing after 30 years
On 8 September 2022 Bonnie Doets will dance her last big premiere with the production Oscar at Royal Theatre Carré. The star dancer is bidding farewell to the dance stage after a career spanning 30 years. In 1992, she made her debut in Scapino's Nutcracker by Armando Navarro. She remained with the company throughout her career and danced in all of Ed Wubbe's choreographies. For Ed Wubbe too, Oscar is his last big premiere.
Bonnie Doets has been honoured several times in her career for her work as a dancer, including the Award of Merit from the dancers' fund '79 and a Golden Swan for her contribution to Dutch dance. In the past 30 years, she has become the star of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam, where she has always worked with artistic director and choreographer Ed Wubbe.
For the Dutch dance public, Bonnie is one of the face-setting and leading dancers of the last decades.
Ed Wubbe
"Bonnie's and my careers have run almost parallel, she has always had an important part in my creations. Bonnie is a unique and versatile talent with great creativity, technical mastery, charisma and presence. That is why the audience has always been able to identify with her and why she has always been able to surprise.”
Famous performances in which she danced a leading role were Kathleen, Nico, Pearl and Pablo. She worked together with many well-known choreographers such as Nanine Linning, Marco Goecke and Marcos Morau. She appeared in many duets with Mischa van Leeuwen, the other Scapino icon, who this year celebrates his 25th anniversary with Scapino. Their duet in TING! was one of the highlights of the successful show with the NITS.
At Scapino, Bonnie also met her husband, world break-dancing champion Paulo Nunes, with whom she has two children. Son Liam has his parents' dancing talent, daughter Luca plays in the top 10 of the Dutch youth tennis ranking.
When I look back on my career, I can only be grateful for all the beautiful things I have been able to do and experience. Dance has given me so much.
Bonnie Doets
"A highlight was the performance TING! with circus artists and the NITS. What I will miss most is the audience. The best part is when I hear that I've been able to touch people. For that, your performance has to be sincere and honest; it is also a part of you. Fortunately, I know that there are fantastic young dancers ready to take over.”
Bonnie will remain with Scapino where she will use her knowledge and experience in a new position. After Oscar, she will complete the follow-up tour of Casablanca as a dancer.
Portret Bonnie Doets
As a 15-year-old ballet student, Bonnie Doets took part in the Prix de Lausanne. She danced a classical variation from Le Corsaire, but also a modern solo by Ed Wubbe, who was unknown to her at the time.
It turned out to be an experience that turned everything upside down, terrifying and fantastic at the same time. "For the first time someone asked me to improvise, for the first time someone gave me all the space I needed to look for my own strengths, for what I wanted to convey." The result was that, to everyone's dismay, she turned down a contract with the Dutch National Ballet and chose Scapino Ballet Rotterdam. "I fell in love straightaway, although I didn't know what it was yet."
Continuous inspiration
Almost thirty years later, she is still one of the main faces of Scapino. "It is very special that I have been able to keep going this long, that I can do this physically. If your body works against you, this is impossible."
There have been times when the idea of stopping came up: when she had her children in 2009 and 2011, when she was struggling with injuries, when she had to undergo surgery. But working with so many different choreographers and fellow dancers, and the constant inspiration she draws from them, always won out. "My career never played out in one line either, even in working with Ed, because he too went through new artistic phases all the time."
I now look in places within myself where I didn't look twenty years ago.
Honesty
Looking back, she says, she has experienced many more highs than lows. "And those lows have always had their function, so that in the end they also became highs." She wishes it for everyone, such a long career. Because the older you get, the more layers you can add to your dancing. "You get the chance to re-colour your work, to fill it in in a new way, and that gives so much satisfaction. I'm now looking in places in myself where I wasn't looking 20 years ago."
It is not only her own 'pie in the sky', contemporary dance, that feeds her. Also classical ballet - "my first love" - theatre, music. Dedication, giving your all, that's important to her. Just like honesty, in art and in human relationships. "Whether an artist shocks or pampers you, whether a production is exuberant or excels in simplicity, as long as it expresses integrity, an origin, necessity, surrender. That is what touches me."
Curriculum vitae
Born
1974, Hilversum (The Netherlands)
Education
Scapino Dance Academy
National Ballet Academy
At Scapino since
1993
Performed in (i.a.)
Kathleen, Orfeo Shows, De Bruiden, Le Chat Noir, Pearl, Les Fêtes Vénitiennes, TING!, Pablo(opent in een nieuw venster), New Adventures, Scala(opent in een nieuw venster), Cathedral(opent in een nieuw venster), Yantra(opent in een nieuw venster), Casablanca
Scholarships, nominations and prizes
- Halve finale Prix de Lausanne - 1989
- Finale New York Int. Ballet Competition - 1993
- Prijs van Verdienste, St. Dansersfonds ’79 - 2007
- Gouden Zwaan, VSCD - 2013
My body doesn't recover as fast as it used to, but within that 'limitation' I find a new strength, a new freedom.
New paths
At Scapino she also meets her husband, world champion breakdancer Paulo Nunes. "Ed asked him and his group 010-bBoyz in 2000 for the programme Twools and so he is also the matchmaker for our marriage." Daughter Luca plays in the top 10 of the Dutch youth tennis rankings, son Liam has his parents' dancing talent, but does not yet know what he wants to do with it.
Bonnie too, she realises, will have to make choices in the years to come. Ed Wubbe's imminent departure brings the end of her dance career closer, she says. She no longer sees herself dancing in this 'exciting new era' for Scapino, but, depending on developments, she might take on a new role as ballet master, repetiteur, or sparring partner. Because a life without it is still hard to imagine. "My heart is here!"
Photography: Khalid Amakran | Interview: Astrid van Leeuwen | Video: Iris Hendriks