It's now hard to imagine that when it was first established in 1986 this award-winning company was envisaged as a service to Dundee's local community. The company gradually began to tour further afield and won critical acclaim on a national level. In 1991 the company, then known as Dundee Rep Dance Company, won the Digital Award for Dance.

Janet Smith was appointed Artistic Director in June 1997. One of the most inventive, respected and established dance producers in Britain today, Janet's work has been described as 'dance about people which speaks straight to the heart of the audience'. Under her direction, SDT's size and status has grown and the company's choreography has developed a sophistication and maturity, recognised for its originality, clarity and simplicity.

In 2004 the company unveiled a new £1m dance studio at its home venue, Dundee Repertory Theatre. The new studio has transformed working conditions for visiting choreographers and the company's 10 talented dancers. It has also allowed sdt to extend links with the local community by offering dance classes to all ages and levels.

Scottish Dance Theatre won the Critics' Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Company Repertoire in 2003 and a Herald Angel Award at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe for the company's performance of LUXURIA.

'A national treasure' (Daily Mail)

'The company looked so good, so strong, so at home in what they do' (The Herald)

'Every time SDT presents a new work it raises its game...its burgeoning repertoire is both fresh and eclectic' (The Scotsman)