About me
Dakota Demato is the Director of Theatre at South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, SC! She holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from The University of the Arts (Philadelphia, PA) and an M.A.T. in Theatre Education from the University of South Carolina.
Since joining the staff at South Pointe in 2020, she has directed twenty productions with the Stallion Repertory Theatre. In addition, she has choreographed Mamma Mia!, Chicago, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Curtains, Boundless, and Between the Lines at South Pointe. Her direction of the one-acts The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and In the Garden of the Selfish Giant have both placed in the Top Eight at the South Carolina Theatre Association Annual Convention. The latter also received a Superior Rating at the Palmetto Dramatic Association Festival. In February 2024, her direction of the one-act When She Had Wings was selected as the alternate show to represent the state of South Carolina at the national festival, also earning a Superior. In February 2025, her direction of the one-act Digging Up Dessa earned a Superior, and was selected to represent the entire state of South Carolina at the International Thespian Festival in June of 2025.
In her time at South Pointe, she started the school's first-ever dance program.
Before her time at South Pointe, Mrs. Demato was fortunate enough to build the Elementary Dance and Theatre programs for Lexington-Richland School District 5 at Nursery Road Elementary School-Arts Magnet in Columbia, SC.
Before becoming a full-time educator, Mrs. Demato had the great privilege of performing with dozens of professional theatre companies; including Irondale, Headlong Dance Theatre, and Pig Iron Theatre Company. She has even performed twice at the esteemed Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
Mrs. Demato has directed and choreographed over 35 full-scale musicals and plays for students of all ages. She is a multi-award-winning choreographer for her work in South Florida. While in Philadelphia, Mrs. Demato taught for Theatre Horizon’s award-winning Autism Drama program.
Additionally, Mrs. Demato is an alumnus of the International Thespian Society and is thrilled to now be a Troupe Director for Troupe 7010. She is also the Treasurer and Director of Thespys for the South Carolina Thespians.
Mrs. Demato is a proud alumnus of the South Florida Cappies program, in which she is now the Program Director for the Carolina Cappies (reach out to her to find out more!)
Every summer Mrs. Demato is honored to be the Conference Coordinator for the National Conference for the American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE), which she has also been a proud member of since 2017. She is also the High School Network Chair for AATE.
Currently, Mrs. Demato is the PLC Theatre Lead for the Theatre teachers in the Rock Hill School district.
Mrs. Demato also serves as the Co-Committee member representing Rock Hill Schools for the Olde English Consortium Fine Arts Conference.
Feel free to reach out at any time - ddemato@rhmail.org
