Photo of Mathias Dingman by Jonas Lundgvist By Rachel Haynie

Seventeen–year old Mathias Dingman is back home giving his toes and passport a rest. In June, the ballet dancer, a student at the Universal Ballet Academy in Washington, DC, was the first US male to medal in the Helsinki International Ballet Competition. From there he flew to Moscow where he was a winner again.

Rare as it is for a dancer to compete in more than one major competition in a season, Dingman said it has proved no problem for him. “There was very little time between Helsinki and Moscow. Fortunately, we were able to get there, as we did in Helsinki, a couple of days before the competition. So I was acclimated just fine.”

Dingman has won a medal in every competition he has entered so far. In 2004 he won a gold medal as well as a special prize in Vienna. In New York’s Youth Annual Grand Pris he took silver.

He has taken a prize in every competition he has performed in, and prizes do validate Dingman’s accomplishments. But he said it’s the destinations that motivate him. “I would like to dance around the world.”

He leaves next for the Second Annual Seoul International Dance Competition, but first his family accompanied him back to DC to show his teacher his diploma and medal from this summer’s competition. “I have not seen my teacher since Helsinki,” Dingman said respectfully. A lot has happened for the young dancer in those weeks.

Travel and studying away from home since he was 12 years old has helped Dingman grow up quickly. He feels his background prepared him. “In my house I was never treated my age. I was expected to be myself,” he said. That treatment has promoted Dingman’s self confidence, maturity, effective communications, and traditional manners.

Dingman began dancing when he was eight and studied with two of Columbia’s leading ballet schools until he went to DC to school four years later. In November, he comes home again to dance a leading role in Columbia Music Festival’s Nutcracker.

At that time, his passport will have the stamp of yet another country, and he will have finished half of his senior year at the DC school where he has been a student for six years.

Dingman’s family members are Susan Lenz Dingman, Steve Dingman, and his brother Alex, a Dreher High School freshman.