about

Ballet Goyeska is an Amsterdam-based dance company founded in 2022 by choreographer Henry Rodríguez. The company explores the body as a site where classical beauty and human brutality converge. Drawing on the formal precision of ballet, Escuela Bolera alongside Afro-diasporic embodiment, ritual, and surreal imagery, Ballet Goyeska reimagines ballet as a living and evolving artistic language: one that is culturally porous and responsive to the complexities of today's society.

Founded by Cuban interdisciplinary artist Henry Rodríguez and based in the Netherlands, Ballet Goyeska creates surreal, dreamlike choreographic worlds through Surrealist Majismo—Rodríguez’s distinctive artistic vision. Drawing on the cultural memory of 18th- and 19th-century Spanish majismo and his Afro-diasporic embodied knowledge, Rodríguez reimagines these UNIVERSES through dance AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC, creating a choreographic language where heritage is transformed rather than reproduced.

BALLET GOYESKA
WHO WE ARE

The organization Stichting Ballet Goyeska is founded in july 2026 by henry Rodríguez and bas meeuwsen. it is based in Amsterdam and operates in the sector of cultural support groups, fan clubs, and other arts promotion activities. The company is registered with the Chamber of Commerce under number 42122898 and is located in the Hemonybuurt neighborhood of Amsterdam.

The core mission the foundation is to develop Ballet Goyeska as a contemporary choreographic platform that reimagines ballet through intercultural artistic research, cultural memory, embodied knowledge and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The foundation approaches ballet not as a fixed or exclusively European tradition, but as a living and evolving artistic language. It supports the creation of new choreographic forms in which historical European dance traditions, Spanish cultural imagery, Afro-diasporic movement practices and contemporary experiences of identity, migration, ritual and belonging can encounter and transform one another.

the core pbjectives: to develop and promote the artistic vision, choreographic language and repertoire of Ballet Goyeska; to support artistic research into ballet, Escuela Bolera, Afro-Cuban and Afro-diasporic movement traditions, cultural memory, ritual, visual art, theatre and interdisciplinary performance; to question, reinterpret and transform inherited ideas concerning gender, cultural identity, nationality, class, hierarchy, power and representation; to create opportunities for dancers, musicians, designers, researchers and other cultural professionals; to contribute to innovation, diversity and intercultural dialogue within ballet, and folkloric dances; to organize performances, tours, festivals, workshops, lectures, laboratories, residencies, exhibitions, publications and educational activities.

Stichting
ballet goyeska

THE founders

HENRY RODRIGUEZ
FOUNDER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, CHOREOGRAPHER

Henry Rodríguez is an interdisciplinary artist, dancer, choreographer, dance educator and music maker born in Cuba and who is currently based in the Netherlands. His expertise was forged in places such as the National School of Dance in Cuba, Ballet Español de Cuba, Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Dutch National Ballet Academy, Pyntago Electronic Music Academy, among others. Rodríguez's work has been presented and awarded at festivals such as Florence Dance Festival, AmsterDans International Competition, Burgos & New York International Choreographic Contest, Electropark Festival, and AMONG OTHERS, the Amsterdam Fringe Festival, where he won IN 2025 the Fringe At Best Award with the piece Pulling Scales. Alongside his artistic work, he teaches workshops and classes that share his creative process and movement research with a wide range of audiences.

“Our work is an amalgamation of eclectic scenarios where the human body unravels its deepest mysteries in a space where kindness, honesty and playfulness intersect.”

bas meeuwsen
co-founder, Secretary, Treasurer

Bas Meeuwsen is an experienced legal professional with a deep appreciation for culture, creativity and the performing arts. Alongside his professional career, he has been involved in non-profit and cultural initiatives.

As the co-founder, Secretary and Treasurer of Stichting Ballet Goyeska, Bas contributes his legal and organizational expertise in support of the Foundation’s artistic ambitions. He is particularly drawn to the expressive power of dance: its ability to tell stories, create connections and provide space for talent and artistic development. Bas is proud to help strengthen the organization behind the art, enabling dancers and makers to focus on what matters most: creating, performing and inspiring audiences.

we create community through dance. Ballet Goyeska offers unique and inspiring performances and dance classes to move, create, and socialize in a unique space where diversity and creative positivity reign.

Ballet Goyeska reimagines ballet through a new choreographic language that transforms Spanish cultural memory and Afro-diasporic embodied knowledge into contemporary works of dance, ritual, and imagination.

Through original creations, the company explores the meeting point between heritage and innovation, tradition and transformation, history and dream.

Inspired by the visionary worlds of Francisco de Goya, the refinement of Escuela Bolera, and the ancestral power of Afro-Cuban movement traditions, Ballet Goyeska creates performances that reveal hidden connections between cultures, histories, and collective memories.

The company's core mission is not to preserve the past as a static inheritance, but to activate it as a living force capable of generating new artistic futures.

Through choreography, Ballet Goyeska seeks to:

  • Create ambitious contemporary dance works that speak to diverse international audiences. 

  • Reimagine cultural heritage through experimentation, imagination, and artistic risk.

  • Build bridges between European and diasporic histories through embodied performance.

  • Establish Amsterdam as a home for innovative intercultural dance creation.

  • Cultivate spaces where ritual, theatre, memory, and movement converge.

At its heart, Ballet Goyeska believes that dance can transform inherited histories into living experiences and that the body is a place where cultures do not simply coexist, but create something entirely new.

Ballet Goyeska does not recreate tradition.

It awakens it

It does not preserve memory.

It sets memory in motion.

Awards, Residencies, Festivals & Commissions

OUR MISSION

  • The Holy Art Exhibition - EDGE OF STILLNESS |
    Open Art & Art on Loop, Amsterdam
    ‘Gardens Of The Soul’

    Electropark Festival |
    Genoa, Italy
    Pulling Scales

  • Amsterdam Fringe Festival 2025 |
    Pulling Scales
    FAB Award 2025

    Movement Research Lab at ICK Amsterdam 2025 |
    FABIÁN

  • ICK Dans Amsterdam |
    Scholarship Award Season 2024/2025

    AmsterDans International Competition 7th Edition |
    3RD PRIZE
    ‘MAJOS’

  • Cross Academy Fund
    Amsterdam Hoogeschool van de Kunsten - Dutch National Ballet Academy |
    ‘Juxtaposed’


  • DOOR FOUNDATION
    OPEN DOORS SHORT RESIDENCY |
    ‘The Physicality Of Rootlessness’

    Swindon Dance
    Digital 4 Commission 2022 |
    ‘Lost In Parameterization’

    BURGOS & NEW YORK
    INTERNATIONAL CHOREOGRAPHY CONTEST
    MOVING SPACES |
    1ST AWARD
    ‘DISCURSO PÚBLICO’

    LGBTQ Unbordered International Film Festival |
    EXCELLENCE AWARD
    ‘FABIAN, APUNTES 1969’

  • EUROPE IN DANCE GRAND PRIX |
    3RD PRIZE
    ‘DADOR’