Scapino Ballet

The Netherlands' oldest ballet company, founded in 1945 in Amsterdam by Hans (Johanna) Snoek to provide performances for children. Although it still tours schools and youth centres, the company now also performs a wide-ranging adult repertoire. Snoek retired in 1970 and in 1988 the company moved from its Amsterdam base to Rotterdam. When Ed Wubbe was appointed director in 1992 the company was renamed Scapino Rotterdam, and he introduced a more abrasive edge with works like Kathleen (1992), a West Side Story of the 1990s, and his version of Le Sacre du printemps (1996).