Joop Caboort

Born at The Hague, Joop Caboort was engaged as an electrician by the Nederlands Dans Theater in 1965. Only five years later he became technical director there. While holding this post until 1995, Joop Caboort became primarily responsible lighting designer for the NDT and planned the lighting for about 350 choreographies, including ballets by Hans van Manen, Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato, Jennifer Muller, Louis Falco, Glen Tetley, Maurice Béjart and Nils Christe. He has collaborated with many set designers, including Jean-Paul Vroom, Keso Dekker, William Katz, Walter Nobbe, Nadine Baylis, John F. Macfarlane and Michael Simon. As a free-lance lighting designer he worked among others for Birgit Cullberg and was responsible for the lighting of plays and operas at various theatres. Companies such as the Royal Ballet London, the ballet of Paris Opéra, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet or the Royal Winnipeg Ballet engaged him and he also did guest work at opera houses such as the Royal Opera House Covent Garden London, the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera New York. Together with Carel Birnie, Joop Caboort developed technical systems for theatres which take the special needs of dance productions into account; he was responsible for planning and installing the entire stage lighting plant and technical system for the Lucent Danstheater in The Hague designed by Rem Koolhaas in 1987. He opened a consulting office for lighting design and technical installation in theatres in 1995 and has since been regularly advising theatres in Australia, Brazil, Israel and the USA. Furthermore, he passed on his knowledge as teacher to aspiring members of the medial and theatrical profession at the renowned Graphic Lyceum of Rotterdam.