The young Mats Ek did not particularly want to be a dancer. Instead, he took drama classes at Marieborg College in Norrkoping, Sweden, in 1965. He went on to produce plays and even worked with the legendary film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman during this time. However, his childhood ballet classes weren't completely lost on him.
Ek was born in Malmo, Sweden. As the son of acclaimed choreographer Birgit Cullberg, dance was part of his life from the beginning. In his youth, Ek trained with Russian émigré Lilian Karina and later with Donya Feuer. After his foray into theatre, he joined the Cullberg Ballet in 1973 as a dancer, where he learned choreography from Maurice Béjart and Jirí Kylián.
Ek has choreographed close to thirty ballets. Be they narrative or abstract, Ek’s dances are marked by profound humanity, subtle humour and theatricality. The characters in his works are strong and original; his language remains classical incorporating modern techniques, especially that of Martha Graham, erupting in madness, violence, brutality and sexuality. The characters are naïve and intuitive as well as strong, comical and dreamy.
Mats Ek came from a performings arts background, as his dad was an actor, and his mum a choreographer. However, he was more into theatre and drama rather than dancing at the start. However, he studied dance with Donya Feuer, and then danced with cullberg ballet in 1973, so his dance classes werent a waste after all. His dances are very dramatic, and characters are strong, as he worked in theatre and back stage he was very interested in surroundings of the stage like setting, lighting and props. It was all very important to him. He has comedy in his work and his dancing techniques are modern.
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