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Repertory Archive

Joke Visser

Biography

Born in The Hague, Netherlands, Joke Visser studied at the Rotterdam Snijschool. From 1976-1987, she ran a professional costume atelier and her clients included the Dutch National Ballet, the Netherlands Dance Theatre, and the Dutch National Opera.

In 1987, Visser joined the costume department of the Netherlands Dance Theatre, a position which gave her the opportunity to collaborate closely with choreographer and artistic director Jiri Kylian, and the many of the leading guest choreographers of NDT 1, 2, and 3. From 1989, in addition to her designing, she was promoted to the head of the costume department.

Joke Visser’s collaboration with Jiri Kylian includes such works as Falling Angels, Sweet Dreams, Sarabande, Un Ballo, Petite Mort, Stepping Stones, As If Never Been, No Sleeping Till Dawn of Day, Whereabouts Unknown, Tiger Lily, Double You, and Bella Figura.

Visser’s costume designs for Petite Mort are her second to enter American Ballet Theatre’s repertoire after Stepping Stones (1996).