David Dawson
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 danced with Dutch National Ballet from 1995 to 2000 and was a resident choreographer of the company from 2004 to 2006. Since 2015, he has been affiliated with the company again, in the role of Associate Artist. In 2025, he was also appointed resident choreographer with The National Ballet of Canada. He previously held the same position at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerp and at the Semperoper Ballett in Dresden, where he was also an Associate Artist from 2020 to 2024.
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 (2002). He created Reverence (2005) 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 (2005) and was nominated for The Golden Swan Award for both 00:00 (2004) and Overture (2013). For his re-imagining of Faun(e) (2009), 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. Most recently his Four Last Songs (2024) was nominated for the UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Award.
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 professional prize at the prestigious Prix de Lausanne, and the same year he joined the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He went on to join 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 over 40 ballets that have been performed in more than 30 countries in Europe, America, Asia and Oceania, including his full-length creations of Romeo and Juliet (2022), Swan Lake (2016), Tristan + Isolde (2015), and Giselle (2008). Other significant works are; Symphony No.2 (2024), Legacy Variations (2022), Affairs of the Heart (2022), Voices (2021), Requiem (2019), Anima Animus (2018), The Four Seasons (2018), At the End of the Day (2017), Citizen Nowhere (2017), Styx (2016), Empire Noir (2015), The Human Seasons (2013), Opus.11 (2013), Day4 (2012), Timelapse/(Mnemosyne) (2011), Dancingmadlybackwards (2010), The Third Light (2010), The World According to Us (2009), 5 (2008), On the Nature of Daylight (2007), A Sweet Spell of Oblivion (2007), The Disappeared (2006), Morning Ground (2004), and his highly acclaimed A Million Kisses to my Skin (2000). For film Dawson created his Metamorphosis (2021), 7 Portraits of Solitude (2020), The Swan (2021) and Styx (2019).
His creations are part of the repertoires of many renowned ballet companies worldwide including; Berlin StaatsBallett, Boston Ballet, Ballet National de Marseilles, Bayerisches Staatsballett, National Ballet of Canada, Ballett Dortmund, Dutch National Ballet, Dutch National Ballet Junior Company, Dresden SemperOper Ballett, English National Ballet, Aalto Ballet Theatre Essen, Finnish National Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, La Scala Milan, National Ballet of Japan, Norwegian National Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet, Ballett am Rhin, Ballet du Rhin, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Royal New Zealand Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Saarbrücken Staatstheater Ballett, San Francisco Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Stuttgart Ballett, Royal Swedish Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, Slovenian National Ballet, Ballet du Capitole Toulouse, Tulsa Ballet, West Australian Ballet, and Vienna State Opera Ballet.
Dawson is Artistic Patron to Junior Ballet Antwerp, and Choreographer Laureate of European School of Ballet in 2019. He 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.
Season 2025-2026
From June 9 to 19, David Dawson's choreography Empire Noir will be performed by Dutch National Ballet as part of the Masters of Movement programme.
Last update: 13-03-2025
- 2024: Nominated UK Critics' Circle National Dance Award for Four Last Songs
- 2021: Nominated for the Saxon Dance Prize for The Four Seasons
- 2019: Nominated for the Isadora Duncan Award for ANIMA ANIMUS
- 2014: Nominated for the Critics' Circle National Dance Award for Best Classical Choreographer, for The human seasons
- 2013: Nominated for the ‘Zwaan’ award for Most Impressive Dance Production, for Overture
- 2010: Benois de la Danse for Best Choreographer, for Faun(e)
- 2010: Nominated for the Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Best Classical Choreographer, for Faun(e)
- 2006: Golden Mask Award (Russia) for Reverence
- 2006: Choo San Goh Choreography Award (China) for The Gentle Chapters
- 2005: Nominated for the Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Best Classical Choreographer, for The Grey Area
- 2003: Benois de la Danse for Best Choreographer, for The Grey Area
- 2003: Nominated for the ‘Zwaan’ award for Most Impressive Dance Production, for 00:00
- 1992: Nominated Best Newcomer of the Season, Dance & Dancers magazine
- 1991: Winner Prix de Lausanne (Switzerland)
- 1991: Winner Alicia Markova Award