Peter Schaufuss, Founder of ENB School & Former Director of ENB pays tribute to Matz Skoog.

Earlier this month, the ballet world in general and the English National Ballet world in particular, company and school alike, lost one of their own, the wonderful Matz Skoog. Matz was not only a fantastic dancer, without doubt the greatest to emerge from Sweden, he was also a fantastic human being. He was kind. He was gentle. But like all great performers he had the inner steel that all successful dancers need to take them to the top of their profession.

I was lucky enough to know him for nearly half a century; we first met in the spring of 1979 when I took him to audition for Beryl Grey at London Festival Ballet. She was quick to recognize his talent and Matz was quick to rise to the rank of Principal Dancer with the Company. He was equally at home in the modern and classical repertoires. Be it in a new creation by Christopher Bruce or a classical work by Ashton or Bournonville, in whichever role he was cast, Matz had the rare, God-given talent to make it his own.

 As Romeo in Ashton’s Romeo and Juliet at the Met in New York, in Bejart’s Bolero in Copenhagen, in countless roles in Festival Ballet/English National Ballet repertoire in London, on UK and international tours, Matz attracted glowing reviews and an ever-growing army of fans. When I founded the English National Ballet School in 1988, Matz was one of the first dancers we asked to teach there, a task he took to with his customary and meticulous professionalism. In 1996, Matz was appointed Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet Company. After a hugely successful five years there, he was back in London as Artistic Director of English National Ballet & School, a role he fulfilled with equal success until 2006.

Good looking, calm, collected, charming and with a typical Scandinavian reserved delightful sense of humour, Matz was small in frame, but huge in delivery. He was generous both on and off stage: I can hand-on-heart say, I never heard Matz say an unkind word about anyone. It was a huge honour to have known and worked closely with Matz as ‘a stage brother’. It was also a huge honour to count him as steadfast friend.

Rest in peace, Sweet Prince. With love.

Peter