About Betsy
Curriculum Vitae
Betsy Torenbos
Born in Annen (Drenthe), The Netherlands
Director Foundation Be-wonder, Amsterdam
Betsy Torenbos developed her career as a performing dancer after obtaining her Bachelor's degree from the Amsterdam University of the Arts (AHK, 1991) and a Master’s degree from DasArts in Amsterdam (during the time of Ritsaert ten Cate 1997-2000). She created three important works within the program, based on oral history: A homage to her buddy Armand Busropan (who died of AIDS), Voorbij for Aat Breur (a survivor of Ravensbrück), and She and Me (an anonymous survivor of Auschwitz).
She later evolved into a theater director and visual artist. Over the past 22 years, Torenbos has created various annual productions for her foundation, Stichting Be-wonder, often based on oral history or literature.
Private
Betsy Torenbos (born 1969) is the youngest of four daughters of Mien Torenbos-Smit (born 1939) and Hendrik Torenbos (1934–2023). When her mother was 18, she dreamed of having three daughters. Alida, the second daughter, lived for only two days. Torenbos says about this: "It feels as if I owe my life to her death."
Betsy was married twice to director and theatre maker Johan Doesburg (1955–2025): first from 1998 to 2005, and again in February 2015, remaining with him until his death on January 24, 2025.
In 2007, she had a son with composer Louis Andriessen (1939–2021), named Lodewijk Johannes Hendrik. He was named after Louis himself, his mother Johanna Anschütz, his father Hendrik, Betsy's father Hendrik, her grandmother Johanna, her sister Joke, and last but not least, theatre maker and writer Lodewijk de Boer.
Dance and choreography Betsy Torenbos, music Louis Andriessen, Osaka, 2005, Garden of Eros
Dance Theater Film
Notable works from Foundation Be-wonder include:
Adres Onbekend (2016): A provocative performance based on the famous book by Kressmann Taylor, staged on the grounds of Camp Westerbork, in front of the remaining commander's house of Gemmeker.
Actors: Hans Croiset and Hans van Veggel.
Musicians: Lisanne Soeterbroek/Heleen Hulst.
Music: Chaconne, Bach / Harmonies, Louis Andriessen / Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages – Zank, Kromatisch & Klagendes Lied (Panaszos Notá). *5 stars Dagblad van het Noorden
Adres Onbekend trailer
Anno MM (2000): A docu-theatre production in Salzburg that was featured in the Austrian news.
She created a film for composer Louis Andriessen based on the song Y Después.
She danced and choreographed Louis' De Materie IV in Warschau (Polen) and Tanglewood (USA) in 2000 & 2001.
Anno Drenthe (2002)
Groene Amsterdammer / Loek Zonneveld
and Anno Turkey (2006): Multimedia productions with 'live cooking'; participants over the age of 80 from Drenthe, Groningen, and Turkey. In DNK Assen tussen 2009 en 2015: Onder één dak (Jan Fabricius, Mensen die ik gekend heb (Jan Fabricius). She created the movie Maria in Campis for the 750 year existence of Assen with Vanderveen Warehouse. Director and dancer in Instant Slauerhoff by visual artist Guus Slauerhoff, featuring Anne Wil Blankers, Hans Croiset, Greetje Bijma, Marcel Möring, Harry de Wit, and Jojanneke Vanderveen. Molly and Milly with Cox Habbema at the then AXIS festival.
A performance based on Louis Andriessen's De Tijd (2005 and 2006), developed after she had lived and worked partly in Japan for three years. In 2006 it was performed in festival Dag in de Branding with the conductor Clark Rundell.
Choreography based on Time, 2005
Garden of Eros in Osaka (Artist in Residence/DanceBox) in Japan in 2006 (theater and video installation) set to music by Andriessen;
B-san in Osaka, Asia Festival (2005);
Dance performance Air with live painting at the ANA Hotel Tokyo in 2004. Hananoki Dance on Sado in AIR in 2004 with musician Mr. Kano.
For the theater production Memento & Memento Edu (2009, 2010). Louis Andriessen composed seven one-minute flute solos for Betsy her piece Memento, performed by flutist Urara Ishiko (Japan) with actress Nora Kretz.
Between 1996 and 2002, she collaborated with director Johan Doesburg at Het Nationale Toneel as a dancer and choreographer on various productions, including Celine II, Oresteia, Het Vuil, de Stad en de Dood, The House of Bernarda Alba, Medea, and Equus.
Johan Doesburg / website
For the multidisciplinary docu-theater production Hidden Trees in 2008, Louis Andriessen composed the music. The multidisciplinary production, supported by European funding (SICA), took place in Amsterdam in 2008. She also created three short films titled Hidden Trees to his music, centered on Louis’ childhood.
In 2013, she created Vergeet mie nait (theater, installation) on location in Ter Apel, working with professionals and people living with dementia, about the experience of dementia.
Composer Louis Andriessen created several improvisations/compositions for her work in:
- 2006 (theatre Anno Macedonia)
- 2008 (theatre & film Hidden Trees)
- 2010 (theatre Memento)
- 2015 (film Gisèle, a homage: Death, Quiet Madness, War, The House, Melancholy
Gisele, a homage / short film
In 2018, the song Machmes Wos was used in her work with Andriessen’s permission. Bob Zimmerman adapted it for the theater.
During the COVID pandemic, she produced and directed the theater performance and film Mijn liefde is een koorts (My love is a fever). It premiered in spring 2021 in a medieval church with a specially formed whisper choir (music by Bob Zimmerman). She also created multimedia for this work. Featuring Rosa da Silva and Nora Kretz. Sonnet translation by Bas Belleman. *5 stars / choice of the critic NRC Handelsblad.
My love is a fever / television registration
Betsy was producer of the three-year project Tabee Nieuw-Guinea (2021–2023) and directed the docu-theater piece with performers Raki Ap and Robinson Jouwe and improvisational composer Oscar Jan Hoogland. The multimedia installation was created in collaboration with TeZ: www.tez.it. Paul Pattynama curated the symposia; his father Rob Pattynama was the inspiration for the entire project.
All interviews will be made available in 2026 via Ons Land. At Onsland.nl, you can find in-depth information about the shared Dutch-Indonesian history. The focus is on the Second World War and decolonization. A large network of affiliated heritage institutions, museums, and archives makes a variety of sources available to you here.
The premiere of her community art project You're here my love set in the region of her birthplace Annen, is scheduled for the end of the 2025–2026 season. She is working closely with the social organization Impuls.
She is currently working on a documentary about Louis Andriessen, using his composition De Tijd (Time) as its starting point. The documentary, titled De tijd van Louis Andriessen, is being developed in close collaboration with Bianca van Riemsdijk.
For this project, she travelled to Tokyo in May 2025 and in 2026.
Louis Andriessen / website
Celine II, National Theatre, director Johan Doesburg.
With Wil van Kralingen, Hans Dagelet, Betsy Torenbos en Vincent van den Berg.
photo: Kevin Kwee
Betsy Torenbos in 2024
Copyright 2026 Stichting Be-wonder