DAN FROOT began touring as a Jazz saxophonist in the late 1970s. As a street musician in Boston, he became aware of the unique communicative spark some street performers share with their audiences. Fascinated with the performer-audience relationship, he pursued a study of experimental theater, performance art and postmodern dance at Bennington College, New York University, and with a variety of independent artists in New York.
By 1983, Dan was presenting his work professionally in New York. At first this took the form of "performance meals" - in which the preparation and service to the audience of a full meal was part and parcel of the action - in intimate locations, such as his tiny East Village apartment. During this time he was also dancing with Yoshiko Chuma and The School of Hard Knocks, Daniel McCusker (of the Lucinda Childs Dance Co.), Harry Whittaker Sheppard, acting with Ping Chong and Mabou Mines, and playing music with Ralph Lemon and many others. A knee injury in 1987 sidelined him from dancing, and as a result, he switched over to composing music for theater and dance.
With his knee on the mend, Dan committed himself to music as a performing art in the fullest sense. 1990's "HORN" (co-created with David Dorfman) marked his return as a dancer -- a saxophone-toting dancer. While Jazz remains central to much of his work, it is now mostly performed while dancing and/or speaking. Dan has developed a rich repertory of theatrical saxophone solos, monologues and dances which together comprise an evening entitled "FROOT ALONE" (nominated for a Lester Horton Award, Los Angeles, 1997), which is currently touring.
Two subsequent Froot/Dorfman duets, "BULL" (1994) and "JOB" (1996), reflect Dan's increasing interests in text and improvisation. This is also evident in his music-theater piece "SEVENTEEN KILOS OF GARLIC" (winner of a 1991 New York Dance and Performance Award, a.k.a. BESSIE), a two-act Jazz play, "YOUNG VERY YOUNG VERY VERY VERY YOUNG" (1993), several semi-autobiographical monologues, such as the one featured in his concert, "BLOW MOLDING" (1996), and his talking dances, "JOHNNY WHOOPS" and "2,000 IDEAS FOR PERFORMANCE PIECES" (1998). Putting it altogether, Dan premiered "SHLAMMER," a gangster-vaudeville, in June of 2001. "Shlammer" takes on the question of manhood from a Jewish-American point of view. It features the DeLuxe Vaudeville Orchestra of Atlanta, GA.
Dan's work has received support from The City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, The National Endowment for the Arts, The National Foundation for Jewish Culture, The Jerome Foundation, Meet The Composer, 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, The National Performance Network, and Reader's Digest.
Now based in both Los Angeles and New York, Dan continues to create and tour his work, to teach, and to compose commissioned scores for dance and theater companies. He is currently teaching at UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures, and has been selected for California Arts Council's Performing Arts Presenting and Touring Program roster for 2004-2006. A selected list of recent teaching residencies includes Virginia Commonwealth University, Connecticut College, Philadelphia Dance Project, Temple University, Univ. of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Colorado College, Colorado Dance Festival, Florida Dance Festival, Movement Research, Pentacle, Oberlin College, Rhode Island College, Lewis & Clark College, and College of Santa Fe. Recent projects include "Squeeze Play," a theatrical collaboration with Guy Klucevsek and David Dorfman; a solo saxophone score for Dan Hurlin's "The Home of Bill and Sandy Kelly," a puppet theater piece; and "Shtuck," a fourth collaborative duet with David Dorfman, which premiered in New York at the Joyce Theater in January of 2002.