Since 2007, Dana Lawton Dances has created over 35 works, from intimate repertory pieces to full evening-length productions performed on stages across the Bay Area and around the world.

The work spans subjects as varied as the lives of 19th-century lighthouse keepers, the randomness of fate, and what it means to move through the world in a body that is always changing. Below is a selection of DLD's major productions, alongside a full performance history.

Major Works

The 2026 performances drew critical acclaim. Writing for Life as a Modern Dancer, Jill Randall praised Lawton's ability to bring "the music into three dimensions" and observed that the dancers' gestures were "sacred and old, universal, and abstract all at once." Of the production's impact, Randall wrote that Carmina Burana at Grace Cathedral "affirms what I love so much about the power and potential of dance experiences: coming together, a time of solace and reflection, the celebration of the human body in motion."

The Farallonites (2022-2023)

Cowell Theater, Fort Mason, San Francisco (September 2022)

The Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara (February 2023)

Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre (October 2022)

Set on the remote Farallon Islands off the San Francisco coast in the mid-1800s, The Farallonites follows the lighthouse keepers and their families who lived in near-total isolation, maintaining the beacon that guided ships safely through the Golden Gate. Weaving dance with an original musical score, spoken word, and visual art, the work explores themes of fortitude, sacrifice, community, and the human capacity to find joy in harsh conditions.

"The conditions were so treacherous and inhospitable — supplies would only arrive every six to nine months; when outside, their children had to be tied to boulders for protection against the water, wind and fog — and yet they were willing to navigate such a reality to provide light, saving people they would never meet,” says choreographer Dana Lawton.

Developed over four years, including rehearsals held outdoors in parks and on beaches during the pandemic, the piece draws a quiet parallel between the keepers' isolation and our own. The Farallonites also exists as a short film, which was a semi-finalist at the Cannes Film Festival.

"We never stopped rehearsing, just did it outside in parks, at the beach in people's backyards,” says Lawton. “The lighthouse keepers put their lives at risk on the island to help Mariners sail into the Golden Gate safely. We, as a community, sacrificed our routines to keep ourselves and others safe from the virus. Protecting people we would never meet."

"An ethereal piece of movement-based storytelling... the choreography swayed and swelled like waves." — The Santa Barbara Independent

10th Anniversary Season (2017)

Celebrating a decade of DLD, the anniversary season brought together a broad retrospective of Dana Lawton's choreography alongside new work, performed over three weekends with different programs and musical collaborators. Reviewed as "an experience of layered textural depth" that showcased "a group of artists who truly delight in one another."

HOME (2015)

Flight Deck Theater, Oakland (premiere, April 2015)

Crescent Arts Center, Belfast, Ireland (July 2015)

Center Stage Theater, Santa Barbara (October 2015)

"Where thou art, that is home." — Emily Dickinson

HOME is geographical. HOME is physical. HOME is emotional. HOME is metaphorical. HOME is where you are whole.

This evening celebrates the different aspects of home through dance, music, and film, asking the question: where do you find HOME?

Beyond This Moment (2013-2014)

Ashby Stage, Berkeley (premiere, September 2013)

Center Stage Theater, Santa Barbara (January 2014)

Various locations in central France (July 2014, excerpts)

Beyond This Moment is an evening-length work by Dana Lawton Dances, premiering in 2013 at Berkeley's Ashby Stage. Created in collaboration with composers, the work unfolds across twelve distinct sections exploring emotional journeys, grief, and human connection, ranging from meditative passages to high-energy jigs.

Reviewing the work at Center Stage Theater in Santa Barbara, Elizabeth Schwyzer wrote in the Santa Barbara Independent that the performance created "the sensation of eavesdropping on a conversation between old friends," and that what the company offers is "a glimpse at the rich multiplicity of human lives — and bodies and stories and joys and sorrows."

Silence Of (2014)

San Francisco Conservatory of Music (premiere, March 2014)

Latham Square, Oakland (May 2014, excerpts)

"Silence Of..." is a contemporary dance piece choreographed by Dana Lawton, Artistic Director of the Oakland-based Dana Lawton Dances.. Premiering around 2014, the work features music by composer Stephanie Webster.

18 Virgo Horses (2010)

CounterPulse, San Francisco (premiere, September 2010)

Sharing the stage with choreographer Jia Wu, Dana Lawton Dances premieres two works: Horsethief Lake and Inside. Set to haunting, driving electronic music by composer Frank Zincavage, Horsethief Lake recounts a camping trip and the interpersonal dynamics between family members. Inside, a duet performed to live music by Sean McCue (guitar) and Michelle Beauchesne (cello), explores tenderness, tension, and conflict within a couple struggling to find harmony.

Originally conceived as part of a choral performance at Lincoln Center, the piece was reimagined for Grace Cathedral after that series was cancelled. But the company embraced the change of venue, eventually recognizing that the cathedral was the ideal home for the work. "I mean how many opportunities does one get to work with medieval texts and a score like this and then actually perform in such a gorgeous space?" said Lawton. The production returned to Grace Cathedral in April 2026 for two additional performances.