Mats Ek

Mats Ek was born in Malmö in 1945 to choreographer Birgit Cullberg and actor Anders Ek. He appeared at eight in his mother's *Medea* and later studied Martha Graham technique, but his early professional path led through theatre. From 1966 to 1973 he worked in assistant-directing and directing roles at Stockholm's puppet theatre and Royal Dramatic Theatre, a trajectory that would shape his later movement language. In 1972 Ek began studying classical dance, and in 1973 he joined Cullberg Ballet as a dancer. He commenced choreographing for the company in 1976 with works including *The Officer's Servant* and *Saint George and the Dragon*, followed by *Soweto* in 1977. This route from theatre direction into performing and then choreography explains why dramatic situation remains central to his movement work.

From 1978 to 1980, Ek co-directed Cullberg Ballet with Birgit Cullberg, and he led the company through 1993. A season at Nederlands Dans Theater as dancer and choreographer expanded his range. His 1982 *Giselle* became the first of several internationally influential reinterpretations of canonical ballets; *Swan Lake* followed in 1987, *Carmen* in 1992, and *Sleeping Beauty* in 1996. Rather than applying cosmetic updates to these classics, Ek reorganized character relationships and made social and psychological stakes visible through the body's weight and behavior, creating works with their own choreography, dramaturgy, and performance life.

After leaving Cullberg's leadership, Ek created for major companies internationally. Paris Opera Ballet acquired his *Giselle* in 1993 and premiered *Appartement* in 2000. Other commissions included *Sleeping Beauty* for Hamburg Ballet and *A Sort Of* for Nederlands Dans Theater. He extended his danced-theatre approach into spoken and musical theatre through directing plays and operas. His screen practice includes filmed ballets and dance films such as *The House of Bernarda*, *Wet Woman*, and *Smoke*, featuring performers including Sylvie Guillem and Niklas Ek. Collaborations have repeatedly foregrounded singular performers, including Ana Laguna, whose interpretive partnership is central to his repertory.

Ek's choreography often begins from a human situation rather than an abstract problem. Dancers squat, stamp, crawl, recoil, stare, carry, and lean with conspicuous weight; feet and hands can be flexed, and gesture may look domestic, animal, comic, or painfully exposed. Classical capacity remains available, but virtuosity is redirected toward character and consequence. Partnering frequently tests rather than erases gravity, especially for women, whose force and agency Ek has argued ballet should not suppress. Ordinary objects and rooms become dramatic partners, while repeated motifs make psychology visible without reducing movement to mime.

Ek received the XV Europe Theatre Prize in 2016, recognition that emphasized his practice across dance and theatre. He has continued creating: Paris Opera presented *Another Place* and *Boléro* in 2019, English National Ballet premiered his *The Rite of Spring* in 2022, and the Royal Swedish Ballet premiered *A Cup of Coffee* in 2025.