David Dawson (choreographer)

David Dawson, born 4 March 1972 in London, England, is a British choreographer. His signature works are described as atmospheric, emotionally physical, and abstract/narrative. Dawson’s works have been performed in more than 25 countries and have entered repertoires of many ballet companies.

Schooling and dance career

Born in London, David Dawson began to dance at the age of 7 and received his early training at Rona Hart School of Dance, Arts Educational School and the Royal Ballet School where he was trained in dance and choreography. In 1991 he received the Alicia Markova Award, won the Prix de Lausanne and was offered a contract by the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Under the direction of Sir Peter Wright he performed leading roles in all the classical repertoire as well as in ballets by Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Peter Wright and David Bintley. He was nominated as Best Newcomer of the Season by 'Dance & Dancers' magazine in 1992. In 1994 he joined the English National Ballet under the direction of Derek Deane as a Soloist. A year later moved to Amsterdam to perform with Wayne Eagling's Dutch National Ballet. Here Dawson was able to continue dancing in classical productions as well as explore more neo-classical and modern repertoire in the works of George Balanchine, Rudi van Dantzig and Hans van Manen. Dawson worked with choreographers and created roles in new ballets by Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Glen Tetley, Twyla Tharp, Christopher Bruce, Wayne Eagling, Ted Brandsen, Mauro Bigonzetti, Itzik Gallili, Redha, Christopher D'Amboise. 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 ended his dance career in 2002.

Choreographic career

Dawson choreographed his first ballet in 1997, while with the Dutch National Ballet. Its then artistic director Wayne Eagling encouraged him to create for the company’s choreographic workshop. This experience resulted in Dawson's first major creation for the main company, A Million Kisses to my Skin, in 2000.

He was honoured with the Prix Benois de la Danse in 2003 for choreography and nominated for the UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Award as Best Classical Choreographer for The Grey Area. The process of choreographing this ballet was vividly illustrated in Tim Couchman's film 'The Grey Area' in Creation. 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. He the first British choreographer to create a ballet for this 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's Ballets Russes Festival at the Sadler’s Wells in London, Dawson was nominated Best Classical Choreographer for the UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Award and the Prix Benois de la Danse Choreography Award in 2003. David Dawson and Faun(e) were featured in the BBC documentary For Art’s Sake: The Story of the Ballets Russes.

Dawson has created numerous ballets internationally, including his full-length Giselle, which had its world premiere at the Semperoper. Amongst other significant works are Morning Ground, Das Verschwundene|The Disappeared, A Sweet Spell of Oblivion, On the Nature of Daylight, The World According to Us, timelapse/(Mnemosyne), The Third Light and dancingmadlybackwards.

Between 2004 and 2012 David Dawson was resident choreographer for the Dutch National Ballet, the Dresden Semperoper Ballet and the Royal Ballet of Flanders. His creations have been introduced to the repertoires of the Boston Ballet, Ballet National de Marseilles, Het (Dutch) Nationale Ballet, Dresden SemperOper Ballett, English National Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre, West Australian Ballet, Aalto Ballet Theatre Essen, Slovenian National Ballet, Ballet du Capitole, Vienna State Opera Ballet.

David Dawson's latest choreography to date, day4, set to a special commission from the British composer Greg Haines, had its world premiere as part of the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Dutch National Ballet. Roslyn Sulcas reviewed in the New York Times: "And then there was the revelation of talent that you always hope for on a program like this. Mr Dawson, a British choreographer who was at the Royal Ballet School with Mr Wheeldon and danced with Mr Forsythe's company, should be better known that he is. day4, a piece for seven dancers (all marvelous)...shows his compositional skill and invention; the way he has absorbed Mr Forsythe's influence and transformed it into something of his own. The work is dark, both literally and metaphorically, but also exquisitely,  wrenchingly, beautiful; a world of its own that draws you ineluctably within."

This season David Dawson will continue his collaboration with artists Eno Henze, Yumiko Takeshima and Bert Dalhuysen. On 15 June 2013 a new creation to a commissioned score by Szymon Brzoska will be premiered with the Dutch National Ballet during the Holland Festival, and on 10 July 2013 Dawson will present his Opus.11 in a gala performance at the Semperoper in Germany. Created as 'a love letter' to two of his long-term collaborators, Yumiko Takeshima and Raphaël Coumes-Marquet, this piece is the continuation of Dawson’s cooperation with composer Greg Haines.

Choreographic style

Dawson's 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. Dawson states that he is inspired by "everything that has ever existed and everything that exists now."

Anna Tihomirova and Artem Ovcharenko (Bolshoi Ballet), "The Grey Area", Moscow, 2012

Creations

• 2013 - New Creation HNB - *in production
• 2013 - Opus.11 -*in production
• 2012 - day4
• 2011 - somewhere music is playing...
• 2011 - timelapse/(Mnemosyne)
• 2010 - dancingmadlybackwards
• 2010 - The Third Light
• 2009 - Faun(e)
• 2009 - The World According to Us
• 2008 - Giselle
• 2007 - On the Nature of Daylight
• 2007 - A Sweet Spell of Oblivion
• 2006 - Das Verschwundene|The Disappeared
• 2006 - The Gentle Chapters
• 2005 - Reverence
• 2004 - Morning Ground
• 2004 - 00:00
• 2002 - The Grey Area
• 2000 - A Million Kisses to my Skin
• 1999 - Psychic Whack
• 1998 - Step|Study
• 1998 - Scenes from an Interview
• 1997 - Born Slippy

Honours

• 2010 - Prix Benois de la Danse Choreography Nominee as Best Choreographer for the creation of Faun(e)
• 2010 - UK Critics’ Circle National Dance Award Nominee as Best Classical Choreographer for the creation of Faun(e)
• 2006 - Golden Mask Award (Russian Federation) Winner as Best Choreographer for the creation of Reverence
• 2006 - 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 - Prix Benois de la Danse Choreography Winner for Best Choreographer for the creation of The Grey Area
• 2003 - 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
• 1991 - Alicia Markova Award Winner

External links

• Official Website
• Dutch National Ballet trailer of David Dawson's newest creation timelapse/(Mnemosyne)
• David Dawson working on the new creation, timelapse/(Mnemosyne) for the Dutch National Ballet
• Sneak peek of the new creation, timelapse/(Mnemosyne), for the Dutch National Ballet
• Tanznetz Magazine
• The Grey Area in Creation ( 2002 Tim Couchman’s documentary on David Dawson creating his award-winning breakthrough ballet for Het Nationale Ballet in Amsterdam) | Part 1
• The Grey Area in Creation | Part 2
• The Grey Area in Creation | Part 3
• Rehearsing the dancers of the Dutch National Ballet for the Dutch premiere of his ballet 'Reverence'
• Dawson appears in the BBC documentary, For Art's Sake: The Story of the Ballets Russes - discussing his 'Faun(e)'
• The World According to Us
• Giselle | Wedding Pas de Cinq
• Giselle | Act 1 Grand Pas de Deux
• On the Nature of Daylight
• A Sweet Spell of Oblivion | 1st Variation
• A Sweet Spell of Oblivion | 3rd Variation
• A Sweet Spell of Oblivion | 5th Variation
• Das Verschwundene | The Disappeared
• Morning Ground
• The Grey Area
• A Million Kisses to my Skin