Matan was born in Rishon LeZion, Israel in 1982. He started out dancing folk, and at the age of 15 was accepted to Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts. Matan also studied at the Bat Dor Dance School, and attended the Juilliard School’s summer program at 17.
After graduating from high school, at age 18 Matan was accepted to Ensemble Batsheva. He performed with them for two years before joining the main company where he danced for ten more seasons. Over those 12 years he was a part of some of Naharin’s greatest creations such as Three, MAX, The Hole, and many more.
From 2013-2017 Matan was the director of Batsheva The Young Ensemble, which has become one of the leading young companies in the world. The same year he became director, he also won the Yair Shapira award, and the ensemble was named the best performing company by Israel’s Ministry of Culture. Matan was also the rehearsal director of the main company between 2019 and 2021.
Matan has undertaken a long, meaningful process with Naharin’s movement language and is a senior teacher of Gaga. He stages Ohad’s works and teaches Gaga around the world and is one of the main Gaga teachers for the Batsheva Ensemble.
