Rotterdam – the cruise ship the MS Rotterdam from the Holland America Line still can be seen behind him. During the past week Niels Duinker (27) was there the special start entertainer with his headliner show. The career of this guy from Rotterdam is one big success story.
The fascination from juggling started when I was 6 years old. “My father always took me to the Rotterdam International Street Theater Festival and there I saw how artists used the street as their stage. That’s what I wanted as well”.
Young in his teenage years he joined the Rotterdam youth circus, Circus Rotjeknor. There it was where I learned all the basics of his profession and every Saturday he went downtown Rotterdam to busk and earn some pocket money. Performing started and his career slowly took of.
LAS VEGAS
With an international award for best variety act in 2012 Niels Duinker is now becoming a household name in the show business. Cruise ship contracts and shows in the casinos in Las Vegas: it’s starting to become normal for this born Rotterdam citizen. I performed at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. That’s the same casino where Hans Klok performed for a while.
Further he is a regular guest at the Holland America Line. “I join the ship for six days and I only have to perform one time. That’s the highlight of the week”, tells the recently graduated student in Mechanical Engineering.
Despite of all the success does Niels stay down to earth. “I felt since I was 12 years that I could achiveve all of this. It were primarily others who told me that it was impossible, but only recently I started to realized that it actually is quite special what I managed to do. Recently I was watching in the airplane the documentary about Armin van Buuren. I recognized so much from it in my own live, only he plays on a bigger scale.
And the highlight of all the traveling?
“I have been invited for a lunch by – then still – Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima. That was very special. Also because it was such a select group that was invited, with including John de Mol and Ronald Koeman”.