Dance Training in the Netherlands
A guide for talented dancers and their parents
Do you want to make dance your profession? Then it is important to understand early on how the Dutch dance education landscape works, what choices you have, and which route suits your age, level and ambition. This page offers an honest overview — not an advertisement, but practical information to help you navigate the system.
The Dutch dance education landscape
The Netherlands has a strong and internationally recognised system for dance education. The route towards a professional dance career almost always involves a combination of a preparatory course followed by higher professional dance education. These two are fundamentally different, and understanding that distinction is essential.
Types of dance training
1. The extracurricular preparatory course
An extracurricular preparatory course is followed alongside regular school — primary or secondary. You train several times a week at a specialist dance school. The best extracurricular programmes work with a multi-year curriculum combining technique, artistic development and mental formation, and prepare students specifically for auditions at higher professional dance institutions.
The key advantage: you retain the freedom of your own school and home environment, you build up gradually, and you can discover at any stage whether a professional dance career is truly right for you. The challenge: it requires perseverance and careful planning to combine school and dance training.
Danshuis Haarlem offers an extracurricular preparatory course for dancers aged 8 to 18 in the Haarlem and North Holland region.
2. The integrated preparatory programme
In an integrated preparatory programme, dance and general education are combined within one daily timetable. In the Netherlands, very few places exist for this. The best-known example is the Codarts Lyceum in Rotterdam, where students combine HAVO or VWO secondary education with an intensive dance programme.
The advantage is the high number of weekly training hours. The threshold is also higher: admission is strict, and it requires an early, definitive commitment to dance as a future.
3. Higher professional dance education
Higher professional dance education (hbo) is the full professional training for dancers, dance teachers and choreographers. Admission is exclusively by audition, and selection is rigorous. The main institutions in the Netherlands are:
- Codarts Rotterdam — Bachelor Dance, with tracks in classical ballet, contemporary dance and musical theatre
- Academy of Theatre and Dance (AHK), Amsterdam — Bachelor Dance and Theatre in Education
- ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem — dance and choreography
- Fontys Academy of the Arts, Tilburg — dance and dance teacher training
- Royal Conservatoire, The Hague — music theatre and dance
These institutions are accessible from age 18. They expect a solid technical and artistic foundation built up in the preceding years.
How to choose the right route
The right route depends on three factors: age, level and environment.
Starting young — between 8 and 12 — an extracurricular preparatory course is the most logical and accessible entry point. You build gradually, combine it with regular school, and discover step by step whether dance is truly your path. As you grow older and your level rises, the intensity increases and choices become more definitive.
For young dancers aged 12 to 16 already training at a high level, the choice between continuing extracurricularly or transferring to an integrated programme is a serious consideration. Factors such as travel time, home situation and willingness to commit fully to dance all play a role.
For dancers aged 17 to 21 who are ready for the next step but unsure which direction to take, the Top Year at Danshuis Haarlem offers an intensive orientation and preparation phase including audition coaching.
What makes good preparation?
Higher professional dance institutions do not only assess technical level during auditions. They evaluate artistry, musicality, ability to learn, stage presence and mental resilience. Good preparatory training develops all of these — not only on the dance floor, but also in handling feedback, developing an individual voice as a dancer, and learning to perform under pressure.
Students who have worked for years in a stable, professional environment — with consistent teachers, real stage experience and personal guidance — enter auditions with greater confidence and self-knowledge than those who have only trained technically.
Dance training in the Haarlem and North Holland region
For dancers from Haarlem, the Haarlemmermeer, Amsterdam and the wider North Holland region, Danshuis Haarlem has offered a professional extracurricular preparatory course for over 30 years. Many students begin their dance journey at Danshuis as children — in regular dance classes or children's groups — and progress naturally into the preparatory course when talent and motivation emerge.
That organic route — from recreational dancer to talent to serious dance student within one trusted environment — is what distinguishes Danshuis Haarlem from larger institutions. You are not selected early and turned away if things are difficult for a period; you are given time to grow.
Students of Danshuis Haarlem have progressed to Codarts, the AHK, ArtEZ, Fontys, the Royal Conservatoire, Lucia Marthas and international academies in Paris and Barcelona. See the full progression overview.
Frequently asked questions about dance training in the Netherlands
From what age should you start a preparatory dance course?
Most extracurricular preparatory courses start from age 8. Starting dance classes earlier is valuable, but a serious preparatory course assumes a degree of physical and mental readiness. At Danshuis Haarlem, intensity is deliberately kept low in the early years so that young children can discover whether this way of engaging with dance is right for them.
What is the difference between a preparatory course and recreational dance lessons?
Recreational lessons focus on enjoyment, movement and basic technique. A preparatory course is a professional training pathway with a curriculum, assessments, stage experience and a targeted focus on progression to higher professional education. The intensity, the demands and the investment — in time and cost — are fundamentally different.
How do I prepare for an audition at Codarts or the AHK?
An audition at Codarts or the AHK requires a strong technical foundation in classical ballet and/or contemporary dance, demonstrable stage experience, artistic individuality and the mental readiness to present yourself fully before a professional jury. Most successful candidates have trained intensively for many years, participated in multiple productions and received specific audition coaching.
Can a late starter still progress to a professional dance academy?
This depends strongly on the style and the institution. For classical ballet, an early start is almost indispensable. For contemporary and modern dance, there is more room for late starters with exceptional talent. The Top Year at Danshuis Haarlem is specifically designed to support the transition to professional academies, including for dancers who want to increase their training hours before auditioning.
Find out more or get started
Explore the full dance academy programme at Danshuis Haarlem, or get in touch via info@danshuishaarlem.nl for a personal conversation.