David Leung was born and raised in Hong Kong in the 1970s. He received his professional dance education in the USA and Hong Kong. Dance came into his life when he was 19 with Jacky Yu being his first teacher in modern dance. Since then his life has been filled with many more flavors and colors and he enjoys sharing these in creative, educational, performative and related contexts locally and overseas. He has danced and taught in various settings in the USA, France, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Taiwan, China, etc. In 2016, for instance, he completed a successful teaching residency with the first full-time professional contemporary dance company founded by Chinese, Dua Space Dance Theatre, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as well as a somatic dance workshop at the second Life Festival at Museflower Retreat and Spa in Chiang Rai, Thailand. In October 2017, he participated in the first Touch Contact Improvisation Festival in China as a guest teacher. In January 2018, he was invited to participate in the January workshop (a contact improvisation intensive) with Nancy Stark Smith, Mike Vargus, et al. at Earthdance, Massachusetts. In July 2018, he took part in the annual Contact Improvisation Festival in Taitung organized by Ku and Dancers for the eighth time. In October 2018, he was invited again as guest keynote speaker and teacher for the second Touch Contact Improvisation Festival in China. In April 2019 , he consecutively took part in the annual International Somatic Movement Education Symposium organized by the Somatic Education Society of Taiwan for the tenth time, serving on the teaching team as an interpreter for overseas teachers.
At the early stages of his performative career during the late nineties, he danced with Rosalind Newman’s Dance HK/NY and later as a guest artist with the Expressions Dance Company in Brisbane, Australia. Locally, he danced as a core member with YURI and company danciNG. For the past two decades, he has been collaborating with local and international artists and troupes, including Yuri Ng, Daniel Yeung, Eside Dance Company, Y-space, Symbiotic Dance Troupe, Kae Ishimoto, Iris van Peppen, to name a few. His acclaimed choreography includes a re-creation of his own solo One Man commissioned by E-side Dance Company in 2013. In 2014 and 2017, he collaborated with Hong Kong and Japanese artists as a choreographer/director, dancer and singer in The Second Tower of Babel: Butoh in the Walled City and The Third Tower of Babel: a Butoh Interpretation of Sham Shui Po, bringing memorable moments to the audience as well as the cast. In January, 2018, he performed a solo dance piece for Yao Yueh Chinese Music Association specially created for an original orchestral composition based on the life of Dr. Sun Yat-sen in the Concert Hall of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. In spring and summer of 2018, he led a few young elite dancers from the Hong Kong Dance Company to explore new elements in choreography and performance, culminating in the refreshing performance of NEON - re-imagination of Henry Cowell's works. He is a seasoned dance improvisation performer.
David is an experienced lecturer for the School of Dance of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, while having lectured extensively for the School of Drama. He also lectures for the Medical Humanities program at the Medical School of the University of Hong Kong as a Teaching Artist Associate with the Absolutely Fabulous Theatre Connection (AFTEC). He is a guest instructor for the master program in Expressive Arts Therapy offered at the Hong Kong University.
He firmly believes that dance plays a vital role in holistic education and holistic healing.
David started practicing contact improvisation (CI) in 1996, and was a core member of local CI community Kongtact Square. He established Contact Improvisation Hong Kong (CIHK) with friends in 2016 to promote development of CI in Hong Kong as well as communication and exchange with CI communities worldwide.
The Third Tower of Babel: a Butoh Interpretation of Sham Shui Po was shortlisted for Outstanding Dance Education, Youth Dance, Community Dance or Environmental Dance in the 20th Hong Kong Dance Awards.
The teaching team for the Medical Humanities program at AFTEC was awarded Hong Kong Arts Development Council's Award for Arts Education in 2017.