David Dawson

Choreographer

British choreographer David Dawson is one of the leading dance makers working in classical ballet today. His choreographic style transforms classical ballet in new ways, and his signature works have been praised by critics and audiences worldwide.

Dawson was honoured, among others, with the Prix Benois de la Danse Award (2002), the Choo San Go Award (2004), and with the Golden Mask Award (2005), Russia’s highest theatre prize.

He has been Associate Artist with the Dutch National Ballet since 2015, and Associate Artist with Semperoper Ballett since 2020. He was given the honoured positions of Artistic Patron to Junior Ballet Antwerp, and Choreographer Laureate of European School of Ballet in 2019. Between 2004 and 2012 David Dawson was Resident Choreographer for the Dutch National Ballet, the Semperoper Ballet and the Royal Ballet of Flanders. Dawson has also been invited as a Jury member of the Prix Benois de la Danse in Moscow and Dance Open International Ballet Festival in St Petersburg.

Dawson has created numerous ballets internationally, including his full-length creations of TRISTAN + ISOLDE, SWAN LAKE and GISELLE. Amongst other significant works are FOUR LAST SONGS, AFFAIRS OF THE HEART, REQUIEM, THE FOUR SEASONS, ANIMA ANIMUS, CITIZEN NOWHERE, ON THE NATURE OF DAYLIGHT, A MILLION KISSES TO MY SKIN, EMPIRE NOIR, THE HUMAN SEASONS, DAY4, THE THIRD LIGHT, MORNING GROUND, DAS VERSCHWUNDENE | THE DISAPPEARED, A SWEET SPELL OF OBLIVION, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO US, DANCINGMADLYBACKWARDS, 5, OPUS.11, STYX, AT THE END OF THE DAY, and his highly acclaimed TIMELAPSE/(MNEMOSYNE).

Born in London in 1972, David Dawson trained at the Rona Hart School of Dance, Arts Educational School and The Royal Ballet School. In 1991 he won the Prix professionel at the Prix de Lausanne, and the same year joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He joined the English National Ballet in 1994 as a soloist, and a year later the Dutch National Ballet. Subsequently, he joined Ballet Frankfurt in 2000, where he worked with William Forsythe and performed for two more years before deciding to devote his time to creating his own new works.

His creations have been introduced to the repertoires of many ballet companies including Boston Ballet, Ballet National de Marseilles, Dutch National Ballet, Semperoper Ballet, English National Ballet, Aalto Ballet Theatre Essen, Finnish National Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Royal New Zealand Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Slovenian National Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Staatsballett Karlsruhe, Royal Swedish Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, Ballet du Capitole Toulouse, Tulsa Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, Ballett im Revier and West Australian Ballet.