David is the co-founder and Artistic Director of CoisCéim Dance Theatre. [Coisceim, he tells me, means Footsteps]. His choreography of full length dance pieces for CoisCéim has been seen in Ireland, Europe, America, Australia and China.

In 2001, he co-wrote and choreographed the award-winning film Hit and Run which won the Paula Citron Award for Choreography for the Camera in the Moving Pictures Festival, Toronto, and the Jury prize in the Dance on Camera Festival at the Lincoln Centre in New York. David was also nominated for the American Choreography Award.

David has distinguished himself as a movement director with a knack which ranges from the large-scale to the small and intimate. David created "A Dash of Colour" – a four minute dance sequence involving 75,000 people! - for the Opening Ceremony at the Special Olympics held in Dublin. As a freelance choreographer he has worked in the UK and US, and with Opera Ireland, Barabbas the Company, Druid Theatre Company and the Abbey Theatre.

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In 2005 David directed the award-winning opera production of Orfeo ed Eurydice at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin and Weisbaden, Germany. His other work includes the choreography for Druid productions Sive, Sharon’s Grave, and The Playboy of the Western World, as well as Big Maggie, Tarry Flynn, The Colleen Bawn and The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde (Abbey Theatre); Sophie’s Choice (Royal Opera House, London), The Coast of Utopia, The Relapse, Love’s Labours Lost (Royal National Theatre, London), Martin Guerre (Cameron Mackintosh, UK/USA). He choreographed the film, Dancing at Lughnasa directed by Pat O’Connor. He and Cindy Cummings are the first two members of Aosdana, the invitation-only honorary arts association for Ireland, in Choreography.

David met me after his show in the Project Arts Centre. Despite his illustrious achievements, he was charming and modest. He wanted our readers to know that he grew up and still lives in Sandymount. “Sandymount has always had a healthy mix of people interested in the arts,” David said. “There were concerts, musicals, magic and talent shows when I was growing up.” At one time, during a spell of unemployment, David actually wrote for News4, when Dennis McKenna was editor. But writing couldn’t hold a candle to dance.

He can’t remember when he wasn’t interested in dance and theatre. Even as a child, he was devising little shows for his family members to watch and perform in. The circus – Fossetts, the Courtney Brothers- and later the Cirque du Soleil fascinated him, and for a time he dreamed of running away and joining a circus himself.

Fifteen years ago he set up Coisceim, and the main desire was to create dance that would connect with audiences of all ages. He was pleased to see the wide range of people who came and responded to the new show. Being in Aosdana the last three years is a responsibility, and he is glad to contribute to the official recognition of dance as a true art form. I asked him how he begins to design a dance. Does he start with a concept, movement, feeling, theme, music? It could be any of these things. He usually does a lot of research. It can be difficult. There is such a thing as ‘choreographer’s block’: what will I get the dancers to do today? With Faun, he was interested in Stephane Mallarme’s poem, which inspired music by Debussy, and dance by Nijinsky, the interrelations among these, and how to make it new for modern audiences. Sometimes the dancers could improvise, bringing each dancer’s special abilities to bear. Sometimes they would rehearse in silence.

One of the things he noted about creating and rehearsing Faun was that you shouldn’t do everything on the first day. Some things should be kept in reserve. It was part of the creative process, and in the end, the dancers would have to really own the dance. It was also important to resist the temptation to fill in every moment. There was a place for high energy, but also for stillness. He liked combining narrative, music, movement, text. The piece was very layered. Lots of different things are going on at once, so it is not possible for the audience to focus on everything simultaneously.

The rehearsal was intense. Five solid weeks in the studio, 11 am to 6 pm, and then another week of rehearsal in the theatre. He was pleased with the audiences and their response to the piece.

Part of the Coisceim outreach programme is to work with older people in dance, which they have done for the last two years. ‘You are so enriched by that experience,” he mused, “ Creativity in older people is incredible. They have more experience of life.’ David is interested in what makes us move, and how we move. He sees all movement, walking, etc, as a form of dance. Living dance, he sees dance everywhere. “There are stories in our bodies,” he says, “and we should tell them.”