Born in London, David Dawson trained at the Rona Hart School of Dance, Arts Educational School, and The Royal Ballet School. In 1991, he won the Prix de Lausanne and joined Birmingham Royal Ballet. He joined the English National Ballet in 1994 as a soloist and a year later, Dutch National Ballet. Subsequently, he joined Ballett 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 works.
Mr. Dawson has created numerous ballets internationally, including his full-length creations of Tristan + Isolde, Swan Lake, and Giselle. Amongst other significant works are A Million Kisses to my Skin, Empire Noir, day4, The Third Light, A Sweet Spell of Oblivion, The Little Prince, On the Nature of Daylight, The World According to Us, dancingmadlybackwards, Opus.11, and his highly acclaimed timelapse/(Mnemosyne).
Between 2004 and 2012, David Dawson was Resident Choreographer for Dutch National Ballet, Semperoper Ballet, and Royal Ballet of Flanders. Since 2015, he holds the position of Associate Artist with Dutch National Ballet. His creations have been introduced to the repertoires of ballet companies worldwide.