John Dawson has over twenty years’ experience playing for all types of theatre dance, specialising in ballet and contemporary dance. He has worked at most of the elite dance schools in the UK, including the Royal Ballet School, London School of Contemporary Dance, Central School of Ballet, and the London Studio Centre. While at The London College of Dance, he devised and taught the music modules for the the first practical dance-based Degree in the UK, which was delivered in association with Buckingham University. In recent years, he has been a resident pianist at the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars, accompanying masterclasses given by artists such as Sir Anthony Dowell, Donald MacLeary and Marguerite Porter.

He was a senior lecturer at London College of Dance and Middlesex University, and has also worked extensively in the professional theatre, with companies such as Channel Theatre, Kevin Wood Productions and Northern Ballet Theatre. He has composed many scores for dance and the stage, and his two published musicals, The Inside Story and Voyage to Zanahari, have been performed worldwide.

When a back injury prevented him playing, he worked in the House of Commons running an MP’s office, then had a spell running a clinic for a varied group of Doctors and Consultants. After a long recuperation which involved the Alexander Technique, acupuncture and more information about bad backs than anyone ought ever to know, he was able to return to piano playing. He now works freelance, playing and teaching privately, and is a director of the Bedford Music Co-Operative providing music teaching in schools. For the past eight years John has lectured at Bedford’s Rothsay Education Centre, delivering talks on a wide range of musical topics.

To contact John, please email him at john@carltonmusic.net