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 with the Prix Benois de la Danse Award for choreography and nominated for the UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for The Grey Area. He created Reverence for the Mariinsky Ballet, for which he was awarded Russia’s highest theatre prize for visual art, the Golden Mask Award, while becoming the first British choreographer to create a ballet for this legendary company. He received the Choo San Goh Award for The Gentle Chapters and was nominated for The Golden Swan Award, for Overture and 00:00. For his re-imagining of Faun(e), created for English National Ballet, Dawson was nominated for the UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Award and the Prix Benois de la Danse Choreography Award.
Born in London, David Dawson began his training at the Rona Hart School of Dance, Arts Educational School and The Royal Ballet School. In 1991 he won the prestigious Prix de Lausanne and the same year he was offered a contract by the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He was nominated as Best Newcomer of the Season by ‘Dance & Dancers’ magazine in 1992. He joined the English National Ballet in 1994 as a soloist, and a year later moved to Amsterdam to perform with 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.
Dawson has created numerous ballets internationally, including his full-length creations of Tristan + Isolde, Swan Lake and Giselle. Amongst other significant works are 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).
Between 2004 and 2012 David Dawson was Resident Choreographer for the Dutch National Ballet, the Semperoper Ballet and the Royal Ballet of Flanders. Since 2015 he holds the position of Associate Artist with the Dutch National Ballet. 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, Staatsballett Munich, Royal Swedish Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, Ballet du Capitole Toulouse, Tulsa Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, Ballett im Revier and West Australian Ballet.
Dawson has been invited as a Jury member of the Prix Benois de la Danse in Moscow and Dance Open International Ballet Festival in St Petersburg. Since 2019 Dawson has been given the honoured position of Artistic Patron to Junior Ballet Antwerp.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
2019
The Isadora Duncan Dance Award (The Izzies) Nominee for Achievement in Choreography for Anima Animus
2014
UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Award Nominee as Best Classical Choreographer for The Human Seasons
2013
Golden Swan Award Nominee for Most Impressive Dance Production in The Netherlands for the creation of Overture
2010
Benois de la Danse Choreography Award Nominee as Best Choreographer for the creation of Faun(e)
UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Award Nominee as Best Classical Choreographer for the creation of Faun(e)
2006
Golden Mask Award Winner as Best Choreographer for the creation of Reverence
Choo San Goh Choreography Award Winner for the creation of The Gentle Chapters
2005
UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Award Nominee as Best Classical Choreographer for The Grey Area
2003
Benois de la Danse Choreography Award Winner for Best Choreographer for the creation of The Grey Area
Golden Swan Award Nominee for Best New Production in The Netherlands for the creation of 00:00
1992
Best Newcomer of the Season Nominee by Dance & Dancers magazine
1991
Prix de Lausanne
Winner
Alicia Markova Award Winner
