Matan David

Matan David was born in Rishon LeZion, Israel, and started his education as a folklore dancer. At the age of 15 he was accepted at Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts. He completed his studies at the Bat-Dor Dance School and attended the Juilliard summer program. After high school, he was engaged at Batsheva – the Young Ensemble. He stayed there for two years before joining the main company under the artistic direction of Ohad Naharin for ten more seasons. During this time, he danced in some of Naharin's greatest creations such as »Three«, »MAX« and »The Hole«. From 2013 to 2017, he was the director of the Batsheva – the Young Ensemble, which has become one of the leading young companies in the dance world. In 2013, he also won the Yair Shapira award, and the ensemble was named the best performing company by Israel's Ministry of Culture. In addition, from July 2020 till December 2021, Matan David was the main rehearsal director for the Batsheva Dance Company. Furthermore, he stages some of Naharin's works for renowned ballet companies all over the world such as the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, Norwegian National Ballet, Rambert, Gauthier Dance/Dance Company and the Opéra national du Rhin Ballet. Matan David has undertaken a long, meaningful process with Naharin’s movement language »Gaga« and is a senior teacher of that.
With »Tabula Rasa« by Ohad Naharin, he is staging a work for the first time for the Vienna State Ballet as part of the premiere »Goldberg-Variationen« at the Vienna State Opera.