Born in Malmö in 1945 and raised in an artistic family, Mats Ek first studied theatre, became an actor, then trained as a dancer and joined the company of his mother Birgit Cullberg, the Cullberg Ballet, which he later temporarily directed. In 1976 he began choreographing, creating socially critical works such as "Soweto" and numerous shorter pieces, adapting literary material such as "Bernarda Albas Haus" and reinterpreting, in his dynamic and expressive movement language, the cornerstones of the ballet repertoire. This led to "Giselle" (1982), "Le sacre du printemps" (1984), "Schwanensee" (1987), "Carmen" (1992), and "Dornröschen" (1996). He is also a guest choreographer for many of the world’s leading companies, working with the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Norwegian National Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Stuttgart Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, La Scala Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the Paris Opera Ballet, among others. He writes, acts, and directs for numerous theatres. In 2008 he created "Place," a pas de deux for Ana Laguna and Mikhail Baryshnikov. He has also produced two video films with star ballerina Sylvie Guillem, and many of his best-known works have been adapted for television. In 2025 Mats Ek celebrated his 80th birthday. For the Royal Swedish Ballet he created the choreography "A Cup of Coffee" to mark the occasion.
Ballet by Mats Ek
to Rodion Schtschedrin’s “Carmen Suite”
Mats Ek
Matthew Rowe
The conductor Matthew Rowe is originally from London. Since his debut with the Dutch National Ballet in 2004, he has maintained a close connection with the company and was appointed Music Director and Artistic Director of the Dutch Ballet Orchestra in 2013. In 2024, he stepped down from this dual role and now serves as Principal Guest Conductor. His major ballet productions include Christopher Wheeldon’s «Cinderella», Krzysztof Pastor’s «The Tempest», Shen Wei’s «Sacre du Printemps», and the world premieres of Ted Brandsen’s «Mata Hari», Yuri Possokhov’s «Violin Concerto», and Jorma Elo’s «Sibelius 4th Symphony». His extensive repertoire spans works by many renowned choreographers, including numerous pieces by George Balanchine, Hans van Manen, Alexei Ratmansky, and David Dawson. In addition, Rowe conducts classics such as «Swan Lake», «The Nutcracker», «The Sleeping Beauty», «Romeo and Juliet», «Don Quixote», «Paquita», «Giselle», and «Coppélia». Further productions with the Dutch National Ballet and the Dutch Ballet Orchestra include the European premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s «The Fairy’s Kiss» and the world premieres of David Dawson’s «Requiem» with music by Gavin Bryars and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s «Frida» with music by Peter Salem. Matthew Rowe has also enjoyed a long-standing collaboration with Nederlands Dans Theater, where he has worked with many contemporary choreographers such as Jiří Kylián, Lightfoot/León, Marco Goecke, Alexander Ekman, Hofesh Shechter, and Crystal Pite. Most recently, he conducted «Do Not Run, Do Not Fly», featuring world premieres by Marcos Morau and Yoann Bourgeois. He has also conducted performances with San Francisco Ballet, Vienna State Ballet, the National Ballet of Japan, Hong Kong Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, Finnish National Ballet, Polish National Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet.
Marie-Louise Ekman
Marie-Louise Ekman (b. 1944) is a Swedish artist, filmmaker, playwright, and cultural leader known for her distinctive and inimitable fusion of visual art, theatre, and film. In the 1960s, she became part of Sweden’s avant-garde and pop art movement. She developed a playful yet pointed visual language through which she explored themes such as gender, identity, and social norms. Over the decades, she directed numerous films and theatre productions and wrote many plays for both stage and screen. Beyond her creative work, Ekman has also held leading positions in the arts sector. In 1999, she became the first female professor and later president of the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, and she successfully served as director of Sweden’s Royal Dramatic Theatre for six years. Today, she is considered one of Sweden’s most influential contemporary cultural figures and is celebrated for her innovative, interdisciplinary contributions to the arts. Major exhibitions of her work have been shown in Paris, London, and New York. Her set and costume designs for Mats Ek include «Orpheus and Eurydice», «The House of Bernarda Alba», «Antigone», «Cain and Abel», «Giselle», «The Park», «Swan Lake», «Carmen», «Bolero», and «Le Sacre du printemps» — presented in cities such as London, Milan, Munich, Paris, Lyon, Stockholm, and now also Zurich.
Ellen Ruge
Ellen Ruge was born in Oslo and lives in Stockholm. She has designed lighting for numerous theatre, opera, public building, and ballet productions across Scandinavia, Europe, the USA, Cuba, China, and the United Kingdom — including for La Scala in Milan, the Opéra Garnier in Paris, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Bavarian State Ballet, the Hamburg Ballet, the Warsaw Opera, the Semperoper Dresden, Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballet Rambert, Cullberg Ballet, the Norwegian National Opera, the Finnish National Opera, the Icelandic National Opera, the Royal Danish Opera, the Royal Swedish Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, and Scottish Opera. Further productions have been created at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), the Joyce Theater in New York, the Spoleto Festival, Brown University in the USA, the NCPA in Beijing and Shanghai, and Teatro Marti in Havana. She has been awarded, among others, the Swedish Critics’ Prize and the Swedish King’s Medal.
Cast
Nancy Osbaldeston
Nancy Osbaldeston holds both Belgian and British citizenship. She completed her dance training at the English National Ballet School in London. In 2008, she joined the English National Ballet, where she was awarded the «Emerging Dance Award» in 2013. In 2014, she moved to the Royal Ballet of Flanders, where she was promoted to principal dancer. She was regularly a guest performer with the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich and later danced at the Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse.
Her repertoire includes leading roles in choreographies by Yuri Grigorovich (Aegina in «Spartacus»), John Neumeier (Marie in «The Nutcracker»), Akram Khan («Giselle»), Kader Belarbi (Kitri in «Don Quixote»), and Pina Bausch («Café Müller»). Additionally, she has appeared in works by George Balanchine, Ohad Naharin, Jiří Kylián, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Andonis Foniadakis.
Since the 2024/25 season, she has been principal dancer at Ballett Zürich. Here, she danced leading roles in choreographies by Cathy Marston («Clara», Cecilia in «Atonement», «Mrs. Robinson»), Patrice Bart («Giselle»), William Forsythe («In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated»), Kenneth MacMillan («Concerto»), and Bryan Arias («Colorful Darkness»).
Nehanda Péguillan
Nehanda Péguillan holds French and South African citizenship. She received her dance training in Johannesburg and at the Pôle National Supérieur de Danse Rosella Hightower in Cannes. With Cannes Jeune Ballet, she performed in choreographies by Jean-Christophe Maillot, Carolyn Carlson, and Thierry Malandin. In 2023, she danced in the Dutch company De Theater BV’s production of «Nureyev». After one season in the Junior Ballet, she has been a member of the Ballett Zürich since the 2024/25 season. Here, she has performed in choreographies by Crystal Pite, William Forsythe, Cathy Marston, and Wayne McGregor.
Esteban Berlanga
Esteban Berlanga is from Spain. After his training at the Royal Conservatory of Albacete and the Professional Dance Conservatory of Madrid, he danced with the English National Ballet from 2006 to 2013. There, he was promoted to principal dancer in 2012. Among other roles, he danced Prince Siegfried in Derek Dean’s «Swan Lake», the prince in Kenneth MacMillan’s «The Sleeping Beauty», Albrecht in Mary Skeaping’s «Giselle», the Nutcracker in Wayne Eagling’s choreography, and Frédéric in Roland Petit’s «L’Arlésienne». For David Dawson’s «Faun(e)», he was nominated for the «Benois de la Danse». From 2013 to 2018, he was principal dancer at the Compañia Nacional de Danza de España. Since the 2018/19 season, he has been a member of Ballett Zürich, and since 2022, a principal dancer. He appeared in the title role of Marco Goecke’s «Nijinski» and danced leading roles in choreographies by Christian Spuck (including «The Sleeping Beauty»; «Anna Karenina») and Cathy Marston («The Cellist»; «Snowblind»).
In 2024, he received the «Dance Prize of the Friends of Ballett Zürich».
Wei Chen
Wei Chen is from the USA and trained at Boston Ballet School, Margo Marshall’s School of Ballet, Walnut Hill School, and Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy. At the Royal Ballet of Flanders, he danced Siegfried in Marcia Haydée’s «Swan Lake» and Prince Désiré in «The Sleeping Beauty», as well as Lenski in Cranko’s «Onegin». He has also performed in choreographies by Balanchine, Bournonville, Dawson, Forsythe, Godani, McGregor, Nureyev, Pite, Stevenson, and Wheeldon. Since the 2013/14 season, he has been a member of Ballett Zürich, performing in works by Douglas Lee, Jiří Kylián, Marco Goecke, Edward Clug, William Forsythe, and Crystal Pite. He also danced Romeo and Mercutio in Christian Spuck’s «Romeo and Juliet», Benno in Ratmansky’s «Swan Lake», Coppelius in Spuck’s «Sandmann», Albrecht in Patrice Bart’s «Giselle», and the Cello in Cathy Marston’s «The Cellist». In 2023, he received the «Dance Prize of the Friends of Ballett Zürich».
Brandon Lawrence
Brandon Lawrence is from Great Britain. He received his ballet training at the Royal Ballet School. From 2011 to 2023, he danced with Birmingham Royal Ballet, serving as Principal Dancer since 2019. Important roles included the Prince («The Nutcracker»), Franz («Coppélia»), Prince Florimund («The Sleeping Beauty»), Prince Siegfried («Swan Lake») in choreographies by Peter Wright; Romeo in Kenneth MacMillan’s «Romeo and Juliet»; Colas in Frederick Ashton’s «La Fille mal gardée»; the Prince («Cinderella»), Beast («The Beauty and the Beast»), Albrecht («Giselle») and Otello («Shakespeare Suite») in choreographies by David Bintley.
He also performed in works by Carlos Acosta, Edward Clug, Jiří Kylián, Juliano Nunes, Twyla Tharp, and Uwe Scholz. Since the 2023/24 season, Brandon Lawrence has been Principal Dancer at Ballett Zürich and has danced leading roles in choreographies by Cathy Marston («Atonement», «The Cellist», «Snowblind», «Clara»), Marco Goecke, Wayne McGregor, Bronislava Nijinska, Mthuthuzeli November, Jerome Robbins, Christian Spuck, Kenneth MacMillan, Bryan Arias, William Forsythe, Crystal Pite, and Kim Brandstrup.
In 2025, he received the «Dance Prize of the Friends of Ballett Zürich».
Joel Woellner
Joel Woellner is Australian. He completed his training at the Ben Stevenson Academy of Houston Ballet and with Houston Ballet II. In 2013, he was a two-time prize winner at the Prix de Lausanne. After performing with Houston Ballet, he was a Principal Artist with Queensland Ballet from 2015 to 2024.
Joel Woellner danced Des Grieux in «Manon» by Kenneth MacMillan, Valmont in «Dangerous Liaisons» by Liam Scarlett, Oberon in Scarlett’s «A Midsummer Night’s Dream», Prince Ivan in Scarlett’s «The Firebird», and Prince Siegfried in «Swan Lake» by Ben Stevenson, as well as in choreographies by Greg Horsman, Christopher Bruce, and Jiří Kylián.
Since the 2024/25 season, he has been a member of Ballett Zürich. Here, he has appeared as Johannes Brahms in Cathy Marston’s «Clara», as Albrecht in Patrice Bart’s «Giselle», and in choreographies by Wayne McGregor, Kenneth MacMillan, Crystal Pite, Bryan Arias, and Kim Brandstrup.
Shelby Williams
Shelby Williams holds American and Italian citizenship. She studied at Houston Ballet Academy, Washington School of Ballet, and Dancer’s Workshop Baton Rouge (Louisiana, USA). After engagements with Semperoper Ballet, Corella Ballet, and Ballet d’Europe, she was a soloist at Ballett Mainz, Hessisches Staatsballett Wiesbaden, and from 2016 to 2023 at Royal Ballet of Flanders. In 2017 and 2018, she was nominated for «Best Performance by a Female Dancer» and «Best News» in the «Critic’s Choice Awards» by Dance Europe Magazine. She danced Pina/Malou in Pina Bausch’s «Café Müller», Rusalka in the choreography by Alan Lucien Øyen, Myrtha in Akram Khan’s «Giselle», as well as leading roles in choreographies by Martha Graham, Johan Inger, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Andonis Foniadakis, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Édouard Lock, and Jermaine Spivey. Since the 2023/24 season, Shelby Williams has been a member of Ballett Zürich, where she has danced leading roles in creations by Meryl Tankard, Bryan Arias, and Cathy Marston, and important roles in the repertoire of Marcos Morau, Marco Goecke, William Forsythe, and Mats Ek.
Ayaha Tsunaki
Ayaha Tsunaki is from Japan. She studied at the Palucca University of Dance Dresden, the Hamburg Ballet School, and the Kyouko Kanda Ballet Academy in Japan. From 2014 to 2025, she danced with the Semperoper Ballet in Dresden, serving as demi-soloist since 2021. Here, she performed as Julia in David Dawson’s «Romeo and Juliet», Odette in Johan Inger’s «Swan Lake», the title role in Inger’s «Carmen», the Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in Aaron S. Watkin/Jason Beechey’s «The Nutcracker», and Gamzatti in Watkin’s «La Bayadère».
She has also appeared in choreographies by William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Stijn Celis, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, John Neumeier, and Justin Peck.
Since the 2025/26 season, Ayaha Tsunaki has been principal dancer at Ballett Zürich.
Karen Azatyan
Karen Azatyan is originally from Armenia. Trained at the Yerevan Dancing Art State College and the Dance Academy Zurich, he won the Prix de Lausanne in 2005. From 2007 to 2014, he was a member of the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich (promoted to soloist in 2012). In 2014, he joined the Hamburg Ballet as a principal dancer, where he maintained a close collaboration with John Neumeier until the latter’s departure in 2024. He danced leading roles and solos in many of Neumeier’s ballets, including: «Illusions» – like «Swan Lake», «The Nutcracker», «A Midsummer Night’s Dream», «A Streetcar Named Desire», «Death in Venice», «Peer Gynt», «Romeo and Juliet», «Nijinsky», «Liliom», «The Seagull», «Winterreise», «St. Matthew Passion», «The Song of the Earth» and Mahler’s «Third Symphony».
His repertoire also includes works by Frederick Ashton, Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Marius Petipa, Jerome Robbins, and Christopher Wheeldon.
Since the 2024/25 season, Karen Azatyan has been a principal dancer with Ballett Zürich. Here, he has appeared as Robert Schumann in Cathy Marston’s «Clara», Hilarion in Patrice Bart’s «Giselle», and as the Shadow in Kim Brandstrup’s «Of Light, Wind and Waters».
Jorge García Pérez
Jorge García Pérez is Spanish. He received his dance training at the Estudio de Danza María de Ávila and became a member of Malandain Ballet Biarritz II at the age of 16. In 2005, he won the gold medal at the Premio Roma competition. Heinz Spoerli then engaged him for the Junior Ballet and shortly thereafter for the Zürich Ballet. In 2008, he became a soloist at Ballett Basel under Richard Wherlock, where he danced numerous leading roles.
In 2011, he made his debut as a choreographer. He has won several awards at prestigious competitions, including the choreography competition in Hannover. In 2024, he was a coach at the «Prix de Lausanne» and co-founder of the charity gala «Strength and Grace». Since the 2023/24 season, Jorge García Pérez has been a member of Ballett Zürich again. Alongside his dancing duties, he has also been working as a rehearsal assistant since last season.
Pablo Octávio
Pablo Octávio is Brazilian. He studied at Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts. He was a finalist at the Prix de Lausanne in 2011. From 2012 to 2023, he danced at Badisches Staatsballett Karlsruhe. Important roles there included Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio in Kenneth MacMillan’s «Romeo and Juliet», Prince in Youri Vamos’ «The Nutcracker», Lucentio in John Cranko’s «The Taming of the Shrew», and Albrecht in David Dawson’s «Giselle». Since the 2023/24 season, he has been a member of Ballett Zürich, performing the title role in Marco Goecke’s «Nijinski», Joseph Joachim in Cathy Marston’s «Clara», the Peasant Pas de Deux in Patrice Bart’s «Giselle», and in choreographies by Jerome Robbins, Marcos Morau, Wayne McGregor, and Crystal Pite.
Kilian Smith
Kilian Smith holds British and Irish citizenship. He danced at the National Ballet of Portugal in choreographies by Fernando Duarte and Akram Khan. During his engagement with the Polish National Ballet, he performed in Wayne McGregor’s «Infra» as well as the roles of Mercutio («Romeo and Juliet»), Trinculo («The Tempest»), and Renfield («Dracula») by Krzysztof Pastor. Since the 2023/24 season, Kilian Smith has been a member of the Ballett Zürich.