David McAllister was principal artist with The Australian Ballet for twelve years. During that time, David also danced as guest performer with Bolshoi Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, the Georgian State Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Birmingham Royal Ballet, and Singapore Dance Theatre and, in 1992, as part of a Royal Gala performance in London in the presence of the Princess of Wales.

In 2001 David took his final bow as a dancer and became Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet. He was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2004 Australia Day Honours List and, in 2015, David premiered a new production of The Sleeping Beauty. It is on the 2015 Australian Ballet production of The Sleeping Beauty that the Little Hare book The Sleeping Beauty is based.