Alex­an­der Ekman

Alexander Ekman received his education at the ballet school of the Stockholm Opera. He then danced with the Royal Swedish Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater 2 and Cullberg Ballet. During his career as a dancer he worked with choreographers such as Jiři Kylián, Hans van Manen, Nacho Duato, Johan Inger and Mats Ek. In 2006 he achieved his breakthrough as a choreographer with his piece "Flockwork" for the Nederlands Dans Theater 2 and winning the Critics' Award of the International Choreography Competition "Choreography" in Hanover with "The Swingle Sisters". Since then he has created numerous works for the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Cullberg Ballet, the Compañía Nacional de Danza, the Gothenburg Ballet, the Iceland Dance Company, the Ballet Bern, the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, the Ballet de l'Opéra du Rhin, the Norwegian National Ballet, the Boston Ballet, the Royal Ballet of Flanders, the Sydney Dance Company, the Royal Danish Ballet and The Royal Ballet of Denmark, the Vienna State Ballet, the Athens International Dance Festival among others.

Around fifteen companies worldwide have danced Alexander Ekman's pieces. In addition to the development and design of the choreography, Ekman is also regularly responsible for the stage and costume design and composes music and rhythms for his works. His 2014 work for the Norwegian National Ballet, "A Swan Lake", for which Ekman flooded the stage with 6000 liters of water to create a stage lake, is available on DVD. For the costumes of "A Swan Lake" Ekman worked with fashion designer Henrik Vibskov, who finally adapted the costumes for his fashion shows in Paris and Copenhagen. Alexander Ekman's choreography "Cacti" was nominated in 2010 at the Dutch Dance Award "Swan", 2012 at the Critic's Circle Award and 2013 at the Olivier Awards in the category "Best Production". In 2016 Alexander Ekman was awarded the German Theater Prize DER FAUST for his piece "Cow" for the Semper Ballett Dresden.

In 2011, Ekman worked as a teacher and choreographer at Julliard School in New York City. From 2011 to 2013 he was Associated Choreographer at the Nederlands Dans Theater. At the Staatstheater Nürnberg, his choreography "Tuplet" can now be seen as part of the three-part ballet evening "Powerhouse".

Photo © T.M.Rives