Igone de Jongh (born 9 September 1979) is a Dutch

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...

and a former

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...

with the Dutch National Ballet. She is featured in the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for Anouk's song ''Birds'', the official Netherlands entry to the

Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria (Loreen song), Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the Europea ...

Biography

Born in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

in the Netherlands, De Jongh became interested in ballet when she was four years old after seeing a performance of '' The Sleeping Beauty'' on television. She trained at the National Ballet Academy of Amsterdam and later at the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1996, she was appointed as élève at the National Ballet in Amsterdam. In 2003, she was promoted to First Soloist. In 2014, the Dutch National Ballet reported that De Jongh was the only dancer currently working with the company who had gone through all the ranks, from aspirant (1996) to principal (2003). De Jongh has danced many leading roles at the National Ballet including those in classical ballets such as ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'', ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'', '' Giselle'', '' The Sleeping Beauty'' and ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

''. She has also starred in '' La Bayadère'', in Bournonville's ''

La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' (; ) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. Bournonville's is the only ve ...

'' and in Balanchine's ''

Agon () is the Greek personification for a conflict, struggle or contest, describing a concept of the same name. This could be a contest in athletics, in chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. i ...

'', ''

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

'' and ''

Jewels A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

'' as well as in ballets choreographed by William Forsythe, Ted Brandsen, David Dawson and Wayne Eagling. She also performed in the

for Anouk's song ''Birds'', the official Netherlands entry for the

. Among De Jongh's awards are the Arnold Haskell Award (1996) for promising young dancer, the Encouragement Award Dancers Fund Foundation (2002) and the Alexandra Radius Prize (2002). In 2007 and in 2010, she was nominated for the

Prix Benois de la Danse The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and ...

De Jongh danced the role of the ballet teacher in the 2021 ballet film, Coppelia, a modern adaptation of the E.T.A. Hoffmann story combining live dance with animation. Her partner was former soloist Mathieu Gremillet with whom she has a son. She is said to be the muse of Hans van Manen Since the end of 2016 she is in a relationship with Dutch actor Thijs Römer, they married in October 2019. In January 2023 she announced her divorce from actor Römer.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jongh, Igone de 1979 births People from Haarlem Dutch ballerinas Dutch National Ballet principal dancers Living people 20th-century Dutch ballet dancers 21st-century ballet dancers