Classical ballet has a prominent place in the art of dance. It commands a large following throughout the whole world and is performed by large and medium-sized dance companies. These ensembles not only guarantee the prolongation of the classical and neo-classical repertoire (Swan Lake, Giselle, La Bayadère and ballets by for example MacMillan and Balanchine) but also promote the dynamic development of new work (William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon, David Dawson and Wayne McGregor). In the international arena, repertoire is exchanged and ensembles strive to attain the highest quality with regard to artistry and performance. The technical demands made of dancers increase continually and as a consequence, also the demands made of dance study programs. Dancers are expected to excel not only at a technical level, but must also contribute to a creative process and perform convincingly on stage.
Dancers who graduate from the Dutch National Ballet Academy, work in a broad, competitive national and international dance field with classical or more contemporary dance ensembles. In The Netherlands they dance primarily with Dutch National Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Introdans and Scapino Rotterdam.
Internationally students have gone on to dance with companies like The Royal Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Berlin State Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet, Polish National Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, The Swedish National Ballet, Scottish Ballet amongst others.