Codarts University of the Arts

Codarts is an international university located in Rotterdam's heart, providing high-quality art education in the fields of music, dance, and circus art to around a thousand students of fifty nationalities. The history of music and dance education at Codarts started in the 1930s (with the 'Rotterdam Conservatory' and 'Rotterdam Dance Academy'). Our circus art program was the first of its kind in the Netherlands when it started in 2006. Codarts has an excellent reputation both in the Netherlands and abroad. Young people from all over the world come to Rotterdam to develop their talents. We have earned this reputation by providing top-quality education in a wide range of study programs. There is no other institute with such a diversity of music genres anywhere else globally—from classical music to pop and from Argentine tango to Indian music. In the field of contemporary dance, Codarts is leading in Europe.
Codarts is an open organization and believes it has a social responsibility to be transparently and purposefully accountable to its stakeholders. These features can be found in the statutes and regulations. In these, Codarts follows the principles of HBO Corporate Governance.
Codarts Rotterdam trains talented and driven dancers, musicians, and circus performers to become dedicated and inspiring artists, leaders, and facilitators, ready to spread their wings in a dynamic, international context. Our mission is founded on six concepts that make up Codarts' vision, Craftsmanship, Self-Management, Diversity, Inquisitiveness, Sustainability, and Connectivity.
Codarts combines the oldest traditions and the latest trends in its professional arts education based on international standards. Students immediately apply everything they learn in projects, performances, and concerts. Codarts regards students as self-conscious designers of their future. From the very start, they learn to both take and share responsibility. This means that everything is focused on developing their artistic identity to the most significant effect.
Codarts is firmly rooted in Rotterdam and has always passed on the most divergent cultures, styles, and disciplines to new generations of performing artists who see the world as their operational field.
Codarts is a research-oriented community where ideas and questions are developed, exchanged, and evaluated. This takes place in constant collaboration between professors, teachers, students, and external partners. At Codarts, doing follows naturally from thinking, and the students are explicitly challenged to engage in both. Codarts prepares students for a professional life that may last dozens of years. Therefore, students are coached intensively in developing and maintaining their health, resilience, and flexibility.
Codarts is the link between talents and the international professional field. In the end, everything is about connections. Connections between artists and colleagues, artist and audience, between artist and society. The international professional field comes to Codarts to scout talent. Aside from that, Codarts is in close contact with numerous local, national, and international organizations to make those talents be seen and heard outside its walls.