David Nixon (196?–). Canadian Dancer, choreographer, teacher and director
David Nixon trained as a dancer, first in his hometown of Chatham, Ontario and then at the National Ballet School of Canada where his training began in earnest. It was during his time there that he first became interested in choreography, helping to revive a choreographic workshop with the approval of school director Betty Oliphant. After further study in Europe he returned to Canada to train with Erik Bruhn and the great Russian teacher, Eugene Valukin.

Nixon’s career began at National Ballet of Canada where he progressed rapidly through the ranks to become a principal dancer, performing lead roles in the classical and contemporary repertoire. In 1985 he joined the Deutsche Oper Ballet in Berlin as principal dancer and continued to increase his own choreographic output. This included producing and directing a successful mixed programme, David Nixon’s Liaisons, at the Hebbel Theatre, Berlin, in 1990. He left Berlin to appear as a guest artist with National Ballet of Canada, the Bavarian State Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Komische Oper, Hamburg Ballet, Sydney City Ballet and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet before returning to the Deutsche Oper in 1994 as first ballet master. In 1994, Nixon became artistic director of BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio. During his six years with the company he added 16 world and 15 company premieres to the repertoire.

Since joining Northern Ballet Theatre, Nixon added an impressive array of new works to the repertoire including Madame Butterfly, Wuthering Heights, I Got Rhythm, Swan Lake, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Pan, Dracula, The Three Musketeers, A Sleeping Beauty Tale, The Nutcracker, Hamlet, Cleopatra, Beauty and the Beast, The Great Gatsby, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid and several one-act works. His Dracula became Northern Ballet Theatre’s first performance to be broadcast live in cinemas on Halloween 2019. Under his directorship, the company also shortened its name to Northern Ballet in 2010. In 2010 David was awarded an OBE for his services to dance.