Matthew Golding to join The Royal Ballet

Posted on September 25, 2013

Matthew Golding, currently a principal dancer with Dutch National Ballet, is to join The Royal Ballet in February 2014. His first performance will be on March 27, when he will partner Natalia Osipova in The Sleeping Beauty.

Golding danced with The Royal Ballet earlier this year, partnering Zenaida Yanowsky in La Bayadère. Born in Canada, he trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Universal Ballet Academy in Washington DC. In 2002, he was awarded the Grand Prix from the Youth American Ballet Competition, and received a prize scholarship at the Prix de Lausanne to attend The Royal Ballet School. Graduating in 2003, he joined American Ballet Theatre before moving to Dutch National Ballet in 2009. He has also danced as a guest with English National Ballet, partnering Tamara Rojo in Swan Lake at the Royal Albert Hall this year.

Kevin O’Hare, director of The Royal Ballet, said: “I have very much enjoyed watching Matthew dance over the last few years, and in particular, when he made his UK debut with us last season. I am very pleased he is joining the company and we look forward to welcoming him next year as the latest addition to our world class roster of principals.”

Picture: Matthew Golding in Dutch National Ballet’s production of Paquita. Photograph: Angela Sterling

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.