OLIVER MATZ

Oliver Matz received his ballet training at the State Ballet School Berlin and joined the German State Opera in 1980, serving the company as a leading soloist and international ambassador for 25 years.
Oliver is the recipient of numerous national and international awards such as the bronze medal at the International Ballet Competition in Varna, the Gold medals at the International Ballet Competitions in Helsinki and Jackson and critic awards for his outstanding interpretations of the main roles in “Onegin” “Don Quixote” and “Macbeth”.
In recognition of his outstanding artistic achievements, he was appointed “Berliner Kammertänzer” by the Berlin Senator of Culture in 1995, the first dancer ever to receive this highest honor.
Internationally celebrated figures and choreographers like Ray Barra, Patrice Bart, Michael Baryshnikov, Maurice Béjart, William Forsythe, Pierre Lacotte, Hans van Manen, Rudolf Nurejew, Roland Petit, Uwe Scholz, Yuri Vamos, and Wladimir Wassiljev created roles for him or
reinterpretations of classical narrative ballets.
In 1997, he performed the role of Basilio in the live television broadcast of the Finnish National Ballet’s performance of Don Quixote, one of the great classics. In 1999, he appeared together with prima ballerina Steffi Scherzer in the French television production of the Grand Pas de Deux Don Quixote.
He featured as Prince Siegfried in the German State Opera Ballet’s Swan Lake (1998) and as Drosselmeyer in its production of The Nutcracker. Choreographed by Patrice Bart and conducted by Daniel Barenboim, both productions were broadcast live on television and in cinemas and are
available on DVD.
Guest appearances and gala events took him to many parts of the world, including performances with internationally renowned ballet companies like the American Ballet Theater in New York, the Bavarian State Ballet, the Teatro alla Scala in Milano, the Finnish National Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, the Royal Ballet London and the Stuttgart Ballet.
In 2004, he was made an honorary member of the German State Opera for his life achievement.
In 2004, Oliver Matz ended his artistic career and together with his partner Steffi Scherzer accepted
an invitation from Zurich’s University of Music and Drama to establish professional stage dance education in Switzerland. Under their direction, Zurich Dance Academy, had become a most reputable dance education and training organizations in the world.
Besides his duties and responsibilities as general director, he became an international acclaimed male teacher. Many of his students are engaged at world-renowned companies and have won top prizes at major international ballet competitions.
His international activities include master classes as well as serving as a jury member at acclaimed ballet competitions around the world.
In 2023 he opened a new chapter, to devote himself more to practical work with young international dance talents as a freelancer and thus continue to contribute to the preservation of ballet as an art form.

Ambassador of ITA – INTERNATIONAL TALENT AWARD and ARTISTIC ADVISOR of “ELITE” PROFESSIONAL DANCE TRAINING

STEFANIA PIGATO

Coreografa Italiana e direttrice del training per la formazione professionale The Bridge Pigato Contemporary (Zanè – VI) e Direttrice Internazionale per la Danza Contemporanea dell’Accademia di Margot Fonteyn (Prescott – AZ).

Dirige una sua compagnia dal 2000 al 2009, con la quale realizza diverse produzioni teatrali che sono presenti in
molti Festival e Teatri Internazionali. Come coreografa collabora e viene invitata da diverse compagnie prestigiose, tra cui
il MAGGIO DANZA (Firenze), OPUS BALLET (Firenze), M.M COMPANY (Reggio Emilia), VERVE – NORTHERN SCHOOL OF CONTEMPORARY DANCE (Leeds – UK),
Postgraduate CONSERVATORIO NAZIONALE SUPERIORE
DANZA (Lyon – FR).

Dal 2005 si occupa di didattica sulla tecnica della danza contemporanea e sviluppa un suo metodo “PIGATO CONTEMPORARY” che viene richiesto da molte scuole e centri a livello internazionale. Collabora con Istituzioni e Centri per la formazione professionale della danza contemporanea per danzatori e insegnanti: Opus Ballet (Firenze), Accademia Statale Coreografica Riga (Lettonia) Agora Project (Reggio Emilia), Il Balletto (Castelfranco Veneto), Rambert School (UK), Ateneo della Danza (Siena) e AICS.

È tutor per la Royal Academy of Dance (UK) all’interno
della Summer School of Royal Academy of Dance (Italia) e nei corsi di formazioni (Cpd) per insegnanti.
Molte sue coreografie, realizzate presso scuole di alta formazione, sono pluripremiate in Concorsi Internazionali. Viene invitata come giurata all’interno di Concorsi e come docente per audizioni presso scuole Internazionali.

Nel 2021 riceve un premio Istituzionale dalla sua città natale di Thiene (Vi) per la ricerca coreografica sulla danza contemporanea, in campo internazionale. Nella creazione “L’esodo dell’anima” riceve Riconoscimenti ministeriali e dalla Commissione Europea; per la stessa creazione viene invitata al Festival Internaz. di danza in Germania a Giessen, con apprezzamenti dalla critica. Altre coreografie vengono ospitate presso lo Stadttheater Bremerhaven nel Gala diretto da Sergei Vaneav, in Germania.

Riceve inoltre per la coreografia due premi della Critica da F. Bernabini; un premio istituzionale mondiale dalla Margot Fontayne Foundation (America) per il suo importante contributo coreografico e come pioniere della danza in campo pedagogico; un premio per l’eccellenza artistica nella danza contemporanea a Riga (Lettonia).