Mats Ek (born 18 April 1945) is a Swedish dance and ballet

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

, dancer and stage director. He was the manager of the

Cullberg Ballet Cullberg Ballet ( sv, Cullbergbaletten) is a Swedish contemporary dance company. It was founded by the modern dancer and pioneer choreographer Birgit Cullberg in 1967, who brought it to fame. After Cullberg's retirement in 1985 the company was unt ...

from 1985 to 1993.

Life and career

Ek was born in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...

in 1945, the son of the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The the ...

actor

Anders Ek Anders Ek (7 April 1916 – 17 November 1979) was a Swedish film actor. He was born in Gothenburg, Sweden and died in Stockholm. He was married to Birgit Cullberg and is the father of dancer Niklas Ek (born 1943), dancer Mats Ek and actre ...

and choreographer

Birgit Cullberg Birgit Ragnhild Cullberg (3 August 1908 – 8 September 1999) was a Swedish choreographer. Her father Carl Cullberg was a bank director and her mother was Elna Westerström. Cullberg was born in Nyköping and was married from 1942 to 1949 to act ...

. At 17, he followed a summer dance course ( modern) taught by

Donya Feuer Donya Feuer (31 October 1934 – 6 November 2011) was an American dancer, choreographer and a pioneer of modern dance. She was also a theater director and filmmaker, and a long-time collaborator with director Ingmar Bergman. Life and career Feu ...

. He pursued theatrical studies at the Marieborg Folks College in Sweden. From 1966 until 1973, he acted as the director for the Marionett Theater as well as the

in Stockholm. In 1972, Ek joined the Cullberg Ballet. In 1975, he formed part of the

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French for "body of the ballet") is the group of dancers who are not principal dancers Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (educat ...

for the Ballett der Deutschen Oper am Rhein in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

. And in 1976, he made his first choreography titled ''The Officer's Servant'' for the Cullberg Ballet. In 1978, Ek became, together with Birgit Cullberg, artistic director of the Cullberg Ballet, until 1985 when the responsibility became his entirely. This position he fulfilled until 1993. During the season 1980-1981, he was associated with the Nederlands Dans Theater as dancer as well as choreographer. In some of Ek's former choreographies, traditions of Kurt Jooss and of his mother, Birgit Cullberg may be apparent. He uses classical as well as modern dance techniques. Social engagement of psychological dilemmas combined with subtle humor, form the basis of his choreographies. For Ek, movement is a means of individual expression. Aesthetic value is not his first priority. Ek studied dance and theatre and directed theatre at the Marionette Theatre, the Stockholm City Theatre and the Royal Dramatic Theatre. In 1973 Mats Ek joined the Cullberg Ballet as a dancer. Three years later he began choreographing for the company. ''Saint George and the Dragon'', ''Soweto'' and ''The House of Bernarda'' belong to his earliest ballets. From 1981 until 1993 Mats Ek was the artistic director of the Cullberg Ballet, succeeding his mother Birgit Cullberg. Mats Ek's extensive production of ballets includes more than twenty works for the Cullberg Ballet, among them sensational reworks of classics like '

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance cano ...

' (1982), '

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

' (1987) and '

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opér ...

' (1992). After leaving the Cullberg Ballet, Mats Ek became guest choreographer with major international dance companies. He created ''Sleeping Beauty'' for the Hamburg Ballet (1996), ''A Sort Of'' for the Nederlands Dans Theater (1997), and ''Apartment'' for the Paris Opera (2000). Several of Mats Ek's ballets have been adapted for television, two of them received Emmy awards. Mats Ek notable choreographic theater works include ''Don Giovanni'' (1999) and ''Andromaque'' (2001) at the Royal Dramatic Theatre. With his latest choreography ''FLUKE'', premiered in November 2002 at Dansens Hus in Stockholm, Mats Ek has once again created a work for the Cullberg Ballet, this time in cooperation with the Pork Quartet. In 2006, he won 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 ...

Europe Theatre Prize

In 2016, he was awarded the XV Europe Theatre Prize, in

Craiova ) , official_name = Craiova , image_skyline = , image_caption = From left: Dolj County Prefecture • Constantin Mihail Palace • Bibescu Manor House • Carol I National College • Museum of Oltenia • University of Craiova , i ...

, for his "contribution to the revolution in contemporary dance".

Works

*''Kalfaktorn'' (1976) *''St. George and the Dragon'' (1976) *''The Officer's Servant'' (1976) *''Soweto'' (1977) *''The House of Bernarda'' (1978) *''

'' (1982) *'' Le Sacre du printemps'' (1984) *''Parken'' (1987) *''Gräs'' (1987) *''Schwanensee'' (''

'') (1987) *''Gamla barn'' (1989) *''Carmen'' (1992) *''Meinungslose Weiden'' (1992) *''She was Black'' (1995) *''Rök'' (''Smoke'') (1995) *''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess ...

'' (1996) *''Une sorte de...'' (1997) *''En slags'' (1997) *''På Norbotten'' (1999) *''Don Giovanni'' (1999) *''Down North'' (1999) *''Apartment'' (2000) *''Andromaque'' (2001) *''FLUKE'' (2002) *''Pas de Danse'' (2005) *''Pic Nic'' (2007) *''Fireplace'' (2008) *''Ajö'' (2010) *''Bye'' (2012) *''Julia och Romeo'' (2013) *''Utvandrarna'' *''AXE'' (2015) *''Romanian Memory'' (2016), special creation for the Europe Theatre Prize

References

Bibliography

* Ada d'Adamo, ''Mats Ek''. Palermo, L'Epos, 2002

External links

*
Online.nl , Internet, TV en Bellen

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ek, Mats Swedish choreographers Ballet choreographers Swedish male ballet dancers Litteris et Artibus recipients 1945 births Living people Ek family Prix Benois de la Danse winners