David Dawson
David Dawson
David Dawson is one of the most respected names amongst the younger generation of choreographers working in the classical ballet idiom today. His personal choreographic style transforms classical ballet in new ways, and his signature works are atmospheric, emotionally physical, abstract/narrative pieces that have been praised by critics and audiences worldwide.
Born in London, Dawson was trained at the Arts Educational Schools and the Royal Ballet School. In 1991, he won the prestigious Prix de Lausanne and was nominated as Best Newcomer of the Season by 'Dance & Dancers' magazine in 1992. He has danced with the Birmingham Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet and the Dutch National Ballet, whose then artistic director Wayne Eagling encouraged him to choreograph. This resulted in Dawson's first major creation, A Million Kisses to my Skin, in 2000. Subsequently, he joined Ballett Frankfurt, 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 Giselle, which had its world premiere at the Semperoper in Germany. His works have entered repertoires of many of the leading ballet companies and have been numerously performed in more than 25 countries. Between 2004 and 2012 Dawson was Resident Choreographer for the Dutch National Ballet, the Dresden Semperoper Ballet and the Royal Ballet of Flanders. He was honoured with the Prix Benois de la Danse Award for choreography and nominated for the UK Critics' Circle National Dance Award as Best Classical Choreographer for The Grey Area.
Dawson created Reverence for the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet, for which he was awarded Russia's highest theatre prize for visual art, the Golden Mask Award, as Best Choreographer, and became the first British choreographer to create for this legendary company. He received the Choo San Goh Award for Choreography for The Gentle Chapters and was nominated for the highest dance prize of The Netherlands, The Golden Swan Award, as Best Choreographer for 00:00. For his re-imagining of Faun(e), created for the English National Ballet, Dawson was nominated as Best Classical Choreographer for the UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Award and the Prix Benois de la Danse Choreography Award. Other significant works are On the Nature of Daylight, The World According to Us, Morning Ground, Das Verschwundene|The Disappeared, A Sweet Spell of Oblivion, dancingmadlybackwards, and his highly acclaimed timelapse/(Mnemosyne) and The Third Light.
His creation day4 was performed within the 2102 jubilee programme on behalf of 50 years Dutch National Ballet, Present/s. He is currently working on his newest creation, Overture, which will have its world premiere on June 2013 as a part of the programme David Dawson/Shen Wei within the Holland Festival 2013.