Shih-Yuan "David" Huang was born in Hualien, Taiwan, and began his ballet training at age six at the local dance studio. He then attended Tzu Chi senior high school with a dance program. After graduating at 15, he moved to NYC to study at Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet for two years under teachers including Gelsey Kirkland, Michael Chernov, Lyubov Fominich, Nikolai Levitsky and Vera Solovieva and had the opportunity to perform with the Gelsey Kirkland Studio Company. He went on to graduate from the Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre under teachers such as Cynthia Harvey, Ethan Steifel, Robert La Fosse, and Karin Averty and had the opportunity to perform in American Ballet Theatre's 2016 Fall Gala at Lincon Center. He also attended a summer program at Houston Ballet Academy. After three years of school, he joined Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida in Miami as an apprentice for a year where he performed classical and neoclassical works by Vladimir Issaev and Yanis Pikieris and Vivente Nebrada.