Emma Dawson.
Experience

Selected work.

A career that has crossed continents and disciplines: choreography, direction, producing, and a long thread of teaching. Grouped by the kind of work rather than strict chronology.


Choreography & Direction

2012

Choreographer — television & Havana Queens

Havana, Cuba

Creating movement for broadcast and for one of Havana's best-known dance companies.

2002

Choreographer — Fabulous Follies

Shanghai & Beijing, China

Staging a large-scale international cabaret revue across two Chinese cities.

2001

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra — Medea

Adelaide, South Australia

Choreography for a major orchestral production.

1997

Forgotten Gods — Taiwan tour

Taipei & touring, Taiwan

Touring nationally with NDI across Taiwan.

Stage, Training & International

2013–14

Edinburgh Fringe — flash-mob program

Edinburgh, Scotland

Devising and leading large-scale public flash-mob work at the world's biggest arts festival.

2006–07

Teacher — Ban Rara & Medina

Havana, Cuba

Teaching with two leading Cuban dance institutions.

2006

Debbie Allen Dance Academy

Los Angeles, USA

Training at one of the most respected academies in the United States.

1999

Secondment — Leigh Warren Dancers

Adelaide, South Australia

1998

Secondment — Australian Dance Theatre

Adelaide, South Australia

Producing

2015–26

Producer — Adelaide Fringe & cabaret seasons

Adelaide, South Australia

Producing live work across more than a decade of Fringe and cabaret: budgets, casting, venues and seasons, end to end.

Ongoing

Founder & Director — TDP Productions

St Peters, South Australia

The producing company behind that body of work.

Ongoing

Owner & Director — The Dance Pad

St Peters, South Australia

A dance studio built around its community, with a full teaching program.

Community & Education

2026

Creator — The Studio Owner's Toolkit

Online

The systems behind The Dance Pad, turned into templates for other studio owners.

Ongoing

Rural & regional teaching

Across South Australia

Bringing sustained dance education to communities far from the city's studios.

If something here lines up with what you're making, let's talk.