David, a theater major in college, began a professional acting career during the late 1970's when he moved to NYC from his hometown in Pocatello, Idaho. He pursued acting for a number of years after receiving his Actors Guild card and continued to find ways to deepen his understanding and practice of Tai Chi. David's experience in theater, combined with his understanding of Tai Chi Chuan, have helped him to become a successful Stage Fight Choreographer and teacher of Stage Combat. College and high school classes taught by David Chandler include Speech, Voice and Movement (Lessac and Linklater technique), Tai Chi & Qigong, Stage Combat, Movement for Actors and Acting 111 (Improvisation), Original Play and Advanced Performing Arts.
Past teaching venues include: The National Theater Institute, National Musical Theater Institute and Theater Makers at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Waterford, CT; Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, Hartford, CT; Shakespeare Academy, Stratford CT, The Hartt School, Hartford, CT (Theatre Dept); Connecticut College (Theatre and Dance Dept); Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT (Physical Education Dept); Fairfield University (Theater Dept.); Quinebaug Valley Community Technical College, Danielson, CT.
Past teaching credits include: Gregory Abels Training Ensemble (G.A.T.E.) a professional training program for actors 1997- 2003, Intar Theatre 1981- 1983, and The Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC 1983 -1985. David was a founding member of The Studio Company in NYC 1980-1985.
While a student at Idaho State University, David developed and directed a traveling mime troupe: The Birds Mime Troupe. He was the Summer Staff Coordinator at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY in 1984-85 and Associate Director of Creative Arts In Education at the O'Neill Theatre Center where he also instructed as a workshop leader in Shakespeare, Mask Making, Creative Dramatics, Creative Writing and Creative Movement and Director of the Yah Ta Hey Native American Arts Festival 1986-1989. David was co-director of the Professional Actors Training Program of the Netherlands 1981 -1983. He taught theatre for the Women in Prison Program at the Niantic Women's Correctional Facility 1987 -1991. David was a director for the Papermoon Productions Summer Workshops 1999- 2001 and also directed the Performing Arts program at Quinnebaug Valley Community College, 1986 -1996 and the Ansonia Library Theatre Program 2000 -2008.
David is a well known stage fight choreographer and has choreographed and directed the fights for professional and community theater. Credits include: Benedict Arnold-A Brave Revenge 2004 (Connecticut Outdoor Historic Drama), Camelot 1997 (Garde Arts Theatre), Food for Bears 2000 ( NYC and the Czech Republic), Life Is Dream 1981(Intar Theatre, NYC), Hamlet (Yale University, NTI and Connecticut College), Spring Awakening 2002 (Connecticut College and Fordham University), The Ilusion 2002 -03 (Connecticut College and GHAA) Richard III, King Lear, Henry IV Part 1, Macbeth, and Dangerous Liaisons for the Shakespeare Society at Wellesley College 2000-2006, Dangerous Liaisons 2003 (Wheaton College), Gilgamesh 2006 (GHAA) , To Kill A Mockingbird 2004 (Nutmeg Players), Westside Story and Macbeth 2002-2003(Guilford High School), and Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet(Capitol Classics 2005-2006). Macbeth and Les Miserables (GHAA 2007), Dessa Rose (GHAA 2008), Macbeth and Twelfth Night for Artfarm in Middletown, CT 2007-2008 and Macbeth for ACME Theatre Co in Sacremento, CA 2008. In 2009 David choreographed and directed the fights for Big Love at both the Hartt School and GHAA, Blood Wedding (GHAA) Noises Off (Hartford Stage) and Taming of the Shrew (Artfarm), 2010 Romeo and Juliet at Fairfield University, Anonymous (GHAA), As You Like It (Artfarm), Snow Falling on Cedar (Hartford Stage), 2011 Shakespear's Argument for Artfarm and Richard III for Capitol Classics, 2013 Julius Caesar, Southern CT State University, King Lear 2014, (Artfarm) Romeo & Juliet 2014 (GHAA) Westside Story 2016 (GHAA),Servant of Two Masters 2016 (Artfarm), Man of LaMancha 2017 (Katherine Hepburn Theater), Journey to the West 2017 (GHAA), Hamlet 2017 (Artfarm)
David's personal acting credits include both film and off- Broadway productions (Haven, Crisp!, The Danube, Absent Friends, Brewsie and Willie, A Legacy, 1994, Joe: A Dramatic Idiocy, The Ditch, The Abortion and Life Is Dream), as well as The American Shakespeare Festival and regional theaters. He received his Actor's Equity Card in 1977. During his tenure as Associate Director of Creative Arts and Education at the O'Neill Theatre Center, he created and performed a number of one man shows including: Young Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Prince Ajib, Rumplestiltskin, The Emperor's New Clothes, and The Handsome Monkey King.