Dan Froot

Dan Froot (he/him) is a producer, performance artist, writer, composer, dancer, and saxophonist. He creates live performances and podcasts that foster community dialogue around issues such as food insecurity, housing, immigration, and the role of guns in American society. Dan received a New York Dance & Performance Award (a.k.a. BESSIE) for the creation of his music/theater work SEVENTEEN KILOS OF GARLIC; and a City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Fellowship (a.k.a. C.O.L.A.) and a playwriting commission from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture for the creation of his gangster-vaudeville, SHLAMMER.  Dan's music concerts, theater pieces, and performance events have been presented by leading art centers across the U.S., and in Europe, Africa and South America.  He has collaborated with choreographer David Dorfman on LIVE SAX ACTS, a series of dance/music/theater duets, and with puppet artist Dan Hurlin on WHO’S HUNGRY, a series of puppet plays based on the life stories of homeless and hungry individuals. His most recent work, PANG!, is a triptych of short live radio plays based on the oral histories of families living below the poverty line around the country. He has composed numerous scores for dance and theater companies, has taught performance workshops around the country, and has danced, acted and played music nationally and internationally with the likes of Victoria Marks, Ralph Lemon, Yoshiko Chuma & The School of Hard Knocks, Mabou Mines, David Cale, Ping Chong, and the legendary Jeff Weiss. From 1992-1996 he was the Director of the Bennington July Program, an intensive academic and cultural enrichment experience for teens at Bennington College, and was a member of the Program's drama faculty 1984-92. Dan teaches at UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance while he continues to create and tour his work. Dan’s work has received major support from MAP Fund, Doris Duke Charitable Trust, National Performance Network, The Jim Henson Foundation, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, UCLA Center for Community Partnerships, University of California Institute for Research in the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, The City of West Hollywood, AEPOCH Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Meet The Composer, National Foundation for Jewish Culture, The Durfee Foundation, The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts, The Vermont Community Arts Foundation, The New England Foundation for the Arts, The Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, and Reader's Digest.