David Sauvage is an American activist, performance artist, filmmaker, and self-described

empath Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position. Definitions of empathy encompass a broad range of social, co ...

Early life and education

Sauvage was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in a Jewish family. His mother worked as a lawyer and his father,

Pierre Sauvage Pierre Sauvage is a French-American documentary filmmaker and lecturer, who was a child survivor of the Holocaust. Described by ''Tablet'' Magazine as "a filmmaker of rare moral perception." Documentary filmmaker Sauvage is best known for his 1 ...

, made historical documentaries. Sauvage attended Harvard Westlake School and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, where he earned a BA, and UCLA, where he graduated with a MBA.

Career

While in business school, Sauvage directed ''Carissa'', a documentary about Carissa Phelps who overcame abandonment and prostitution as a child to attend UCLA. The film received multiple awards and was licensed to

Current TV Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smalle ...

. Sauvage produced ''Soundcheck'', a film about musician

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...

. He worked as a director for commercials, including

Bon Appetit ''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in t ...

. In 2011, he joined the

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest Social movement, movement against economic inequality and the Campaign finance, influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial District, Manhattan, Wall S ...

movement, where he sought to communicate some of the protesters' demands and raise additional funds. He co-founded Occupy.com, which served as a news aggregator about the movement's developments.

Life as an empath

In 2015, during a period of depression, Sauvage had a transformative experience with the hallucinogenic drug

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...

. The episode encouraged him to follow his "authentic self" and taught him that emotion was rooted in the body. Subsequently, he cultivated an ability to feel the emotions that others are experiencing. According to Sauvage, the basis for empathy is emotional self awareness, which is not cultivated in current culture. In 2018, Sauvage presented ''EMPATH'', a one-man show at TheatreLab, where he gave live presentations of his ability to feel others' emotions. The performance started by Sauvage explaining how he acquired the ability. Next, when reading an audience member, would begin by releasing any pre-existing emotions before physically responding to the emotions he was sensing. Sauvage says his read of the other person is instantaneous, and 75% of those he interacts with say his reading was meaningful and non-generic. In 2019, Sauvage launched the Empath shop, a pop-up store in the East Village. Visitors received free counseling, discussion sessions, and learned about empathy. Sauvage serves as a consultant to businesses and philanthropists who want to align their strategies with their feelings. Sauvage works with individuals and approximately 80% of his clients are female. He teaches fellow empaths through a class called School for Empaths.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauvage, David Living people American contemporary artists American performance artists People from Los Angeles Year of birth missing (living people)