Ulf Gadd

Gadd, Ulf (b Gothenburg, 8 Mar. 1943). Swedish dancer, choreographer, and ballet master. He studied with Mila Gardemeister (from 1950) and at the Royal Swedish Ballet School, joining the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1960. He became a soloist in 1965. In 1968 he danced with the Harkness Ballet in the US, before returning to Sweden. In 1969 he made his choreographic debut in Gothenburg with Ebb and Flood (mus. Telemann), which he later staged for London Festival Ballet. In 1970 he enjoyed great success with The Miraculous Mandarin, which he went on to stage for the Royal Swedish Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and the Berlin Opera Ballet. In 1970 he founded the New Swedish Ballet (Les Nouveaux Ballets Suédois) with Conny Borg which toured Europe. In 1972 he was appointed ballet master and principal dancer in Gothenburg; he was named artistic director of the Gothenburg Ballet in 1976, a post he held for the next twelve years. A list of his works includes Tratto (mus. Zimmermann, 1972), Gemini Suite (mus. Jon Lord, 1972), Choreographic Études (mus. Ohana, Cullberg Ballet, 1973), Maison de fous (mus. Viking Dahl, 1973), Sleeping Beauty (with B. Holmgren, Royal Swedish Ballet, 1974), Kalevala (mus. Sibelius, Gothenburg, 1975), Queen Kristina (1978), Coppélia (mus. Delibes, 1979), Diaghilev's Russian Ballet (1980), The Tale of Gosta Berling (mus. Franz Berwald, 1981), The Rite of Spring (1982), The Ring (mus. Wagner, 1983), The Darkling Dances (mus. Eduard Tubin, 1984), and Tango Buenos Aires 1907 (mus. Argentinian tango music, 1985). In 1988 he went to Bali to study Balinese dance and music. In 1996 he returned to Sweden as ballet director in Gothenburg.