Hi, I'm David
If you resonate more with presence beyond words, here’s a film to get a better sense of who I am.
My birth name is 甘家伟, phonetically gān jiā wei. These characters can mean many things, but what they presently mean to me is ‘the willingness to house my extraordinariness’.
I identify as a cis-queer Hakka Chinese Malaysian, coming from a long paternal lineage of dentists whom I’ve recently realised I share my gift with, that is the ability to make others smile freely (without inhibition). They did this literally by ensuring healthy teeth, and I do this through the joy of movement.
Many times movement has found its way to me and became something I’ve continued to study to this day. Yoga was a part of this exploration, one that I hold sacred as quality time I spent with my mum in Malaysia before I left for the UK at the age of 17. Since then, yoga has underpinned all iterations of my offerings to foster connection amongst communities in the same way I bonded with my mum.
In the years I have been away from home, I’ve found solace in movement. A container of practice where I felt able to allow my thoughts and emotions to brew. I’ve realised some things just cannot be expressed through words… that’s why we move.
I learnt how to design spaces, particularly homes during my degree in architecture. As I pivoted to pursue dance professionally, I discovered how our body is the most immediate space we inhabit. My interest in home and the body led me to understand that Home Is the Body at its most intimate scale and at its most connected.
After all, it’s a mantra we’ve all muttered in the passing…
I am Home.
My Story
甘
家
伟
My current focus...
While I continue to collaborate with some of the world’s leading wellness-centred institutions, I am currently prioritising work with underprivileged groups.
I founded kindredpacket, a grassroots movement uplifting East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) communities through culturally sensitive practices of wellbeing. I am also a core member of Britain's East and Southeast Asian Network (besea.n), the organisation who initiated ESEA Heritage Month in the UK. As part of besea.n, I also deliver Active Bystander Trainings in collaboration of Protection Approaches to prevent identity-based violence.
I am a facilitator at WE CREATE SPACE, a global platform advocating wellness for queer leaders and a board member for Rendez-Vous Dance, a company championing queer stories through inclusive dance projects and practices.
I am home.
I’ve been a creative wanderer for as long as I can remember. I like the idea of carving my own kaleidoscopic view of the world between lines and borders, between disciplines and cultures. My curiosity as my anchor, the compass guiding me through.
After all, we are lost by default, without orientation or equilibrium. We rely on the experience of our bodies, constantly adjusting, shifting and recomposing ourselves in relation to our environment.
We keep moving, the same way the Earth rotates every second.
I lived through the pandemic witnessing the power of people coming together beyond the mat, and have become intrigued by what it means for us to move together in the space of collective care and action. Is there a way we can still honour individuality within this invitation of belonging?
This is where I am at.
Exploring movement on and off the mat...
as Practice, Purpose and Perspective.
#keepkam
Formally...
I am a movement artist, yoga teacher and speaker based in London.
I am a dance lecturer at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, specialising in choreological studies based on the body of work developed by Rudolf Laban. I’m also a member of the Ferus Animi / Terra Nova collective.
I share experiences of wellbeing and connection with communities across schools, universities, hospitals, non-profits and corporate settings, festivals, gyms and queer centres and of course, yoga studios.
PROPOSITION
PERSPECTIVE
PURPOSE
PRACTISE
My Story