At 25, Canadian Matthew Golding is already a principle with the Dutch National Ballet. Last week, he took a break from his work in Amsterdam to come perform Solor of La Bayadére in Ljubljana, as a guest with the company of yours truly.

Mat has it all. Tall, athletic and with a hollywood-smile (he got the nickname “Brad Pitt” between the dancers, but don’t tell him I said that), he captures the audience from the moment he steps on stage. Top that off with amazing lines and some of the best pirouettes I’ve seen, and you got yourself the ultimate prince! But unlike some of the other “ultimates” I’ve met, Matthew is a down to earth, likable fella. He speaks fast and with an enthusiastic glow, just as he appears on-stage. Young energy, adult weight.

He doesn’t really have the typical background for a dancer of his caliber. He tells me: “actually, I wanted to play hockey, that’s what I really wanted to do. But I had my kidney taken out when I was 8, so because of that, I started doing non-contact sports. My mother thought of dancing – I was kind of interested in the idea of moving to music. But not ballet. I started tap and jazz at 8 and wanted to do musicals, broadway shows, those kind of things.”
 Having done the same myself, I instantly asked him if he sings. Apparently, he doesn’t. “..which is why broadway just wouldn’t work for me. I tried singing lessons at one point, but that just wasn’t my thing. I went to ballet school at 14″.

That ballet school was the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. Mat doesn’t say, but he must have been quite the student. He continued his training at the Kirov academy in Washington on a full scholarship, and at 16, he won the acclaimed competition Youth America Grand Prix, and won a scholarship to the Royal Ballet school in London at another heavy-weight competition, the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland.

“Yeah, that was a big year. Until then, I thought I was going to specialize more on hip-hop or jazz dance. But after the competitions, I realized, or actually, my mom kind of realized that ballet was something that could work out for me”.

And damn, was she right! After a year at the Royal Ballet School, Matthew went on to join the American Ballet Theatre’s studio company. “It was never an idea for me to go to the Royal Ballet. When I graduated, I went straight to the ABT studio company, to get experience, specially on stage, which is what I really needed”.

On why he chose to join the Dutch National Ballet, Matthew says:
“I got lucky! Because I was an earlier winner of the competition, I was invited back to perform a pas de deux in the Youth America Grand Prix gala in New York, which was a great opportunity for me to show people that I was still around, still working hard. Ted Brandsen, the director of the Dutch National Ballet, saw the gala, and asked me if I would consider becoming a principle. Up to that point, I hadn’t really performed any principle roles, so I was really lucky. So, as soon as he gave me the opportunity, I jumped right on it, and headed straight for the Dutch National Ballet.”

Matthew joined the company in 2009 as a second soloist, and was promoted to a principle only about a year later, in october 2010, after receiving great reviews for his performing of the main lead Basilio in their new production of Don Quixote, choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky.

“I was shocked by the promotion – usually they promote at the end of the year. But I think based on that we were doing Ratmansky’s Don Q, which was a big thing. It was a highlight for me, and we got great reviews. So they decided to promote me after that production, which was a great reward at the end. Working with Ratmansky was just a great experience. No-one works harder than him, and he expect a lot from the dancers. At the same time, he is such a positive energy in the studio. He gives great care to the character, in my case Basilio, and he has a lot of patience, which is hard to find in a choreographer. He gives his dancers a good idea of what he is looking for by actually showing the movements.
He’s very humble too, specially in the studio, which is where it counts! When in the studio, the best way to get what you want out of the dancers is just to be on the same level as them. Then they want to give you the best – and that’s how he is.”

Mat rehearsing. Photo credit Elizabeth Khuri

Matthew is constantly praising the people around him. When I ask him about the success he had with the Don Quixote, and how it felt to receive such astonishing reviews from a whole ballet-world, he lays the honor on his “great coaching, and my partners, that has so much experience”. He mentions the director of the Slovenian Ballet, Irek Mukhammedov, and how he’s been enjoying working with him, and he says Ted Brandsen is the reason he is now an acclaimed principle dancer – “He found me, and he gave me the opportunity. I will always have a lot of respect for him”. All over, Matthew just comes through as this really modest guy. I’m wondering if he is always like this…

“We all have our ups and downs, and I definitely have my moments too, like if I’m going through lots of stress. That’s when you need the people around you to tell you you’re not going in the right direction, or that you need to work. It’s important that they are there to give you the straight facts, not just fill your head with more bullshit. I’m lucky to have people around me that, when I go through hard times, instead of cradling me like a baby, they are hard with me, getting me back on the right path”.

It’s really a strange world we live in. Matthew and I are almost the same age. We could have been class-mates, given that we grew up the same place. Still, in front of me is this person who already has achieved more in his career than I probably will in the whole of mine. At 25, he is a principle in one of the best companies in the world. He is dancing with the stars, but not like the TV-show. Matthew is living, well, if it is not his own dream, at least he is living mine. I have to ask what he sees coming up, what goals he has for the future..

“I try to always keep in my mind that I’m working, and that nothing is forever. If you set yourself goals that are too far, you miss out on the present goals for your work. I’ve only done 3 full-length ballets, so I’m just trying to get all the basic full-length ballets under my belt. Coming up is the Swan Lake, Giselle and the Nutcracker, so that’s plenty of challenges.
 I would love to go back to Canada at some point, to dance in my home country, and so my family could see me dance more often. Eventually, I would like to help the arts in Canada too. Hopefully, I will be a person that had the chance to dance in many places, and can give that experience back to the place where I first started. Maybe I can show a kid that is in a similar situation that I was in back then, the best way ahead. Maybe put together a foundation of scholarships to find good talent, or work in the companies and make sure that the ballet stays in a high level.

But you never know where you go, right? One day, you’re working in one company, and the next you’re somewhere else. The ballet-world is really small, and thats a beautiful thing in some ways. We’re all kind of connected. The chance to come guest perform in Slovenia has been a great opportunity for me, and I’m enjoying to see how the arts is being shared in different places”.

Let me tell you, this guy is going lots of places. With a talent and personality like his, I don’t think there is anything to stop him. Or, to quote him one last time:

Everyone appreciates if you show passion for what you do

Check back later to Tights and Tiaras for more people featured, and much more! Until next time, Ta-ta

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