Daniel Riley

Daniel Riley (born ) is an Australian dancer and choreographer. After a long career with Bangarra Dance Theatre in Sydney, since January 2022 he has been the artistic director of the contemporary dance company Australian Dance Theatre, based in Adelaide, South Australia.

Early life and education Daniel Riley was born in .

When he was 13, Riley's family moved to Canberra when his father got a job at Queanbeyan South Public School. His father met and introduced Riley to Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, who recommended the new youth dance studio Quantum Leap ). Riley spent most of his weekends thereafter at Quantum Leap. He did not realise at the time that Dalman was the founder of Australian Dance Theatre (ADT), until some years later when they toured to Canberra and he was greatly impressed by the style of their contemporary dance. Around that time, he also saw a performance by Bangarra Dance Theatre, and decided that that was where he needed to be. from 2007 to 2018,

After dancing with Bangarra for seven years, Riley requested a year off as he felt exhausted and needed time to recharge, and he and his wife headed overseas. During this time, he choreographed shows for the Third Row Dance Company, a student-led group at the University of Roehampton in south London. This responsibility weighs heavily on him, but he was inspired by playwright Wesley Enoch, the first Indigenous artistic director of a major theatre company, at Queensland Theatre.

He was a board member at Chunky Move (2019–2022), and a board associate at the cultural think tank A New Approach. and for Bangarra's Spear (2015), in which he acted and worked as director's attachment.

Riley is on the board of Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute.

In September 2024, Riley was appointed a member of First Nations Arts, a newly established division of the government arts funding body Australia Council focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts, for a term of four years.

Riley took part in discussion about the role of storytelling, hosted by the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre in partnership with WOMADelaide Planet Talks, along with filmmaker Rachel Perkins, and led by playwright Wesley Enoch, in March 2025.

Recognition Riley was nominated at the Australian Dance Awards (2010, 2013), and for Deadly Awards in 2010, 2012, and 2013).

HE is an honorary fellow at the Faculty of Fine Arts (Dance) at University of Melbourne.

Personal life Riley is married to Chrissy, and they have children. He is the second cousin of artist Michael Riley.