D'lo
Groundbreaking. Sharp. Fierce. Raw. Hilarious. Brilliant.
“Queer Hindu Hip Hop- These 3 things make me but don't allow for one another.This is my attempt at fusing these elements of my being (and my imaginary friends) onto
the stage."- D'Lo
Rarely will you find an artist who so deftly masters and manifests each of these qualities in their work, inspiring and challenging audiences to think, push past their comfort zones…through side-splitting laughter! Described as a “jolt of creative and comedic energy”, D’Lo is a Queer Tamil Sri L.A.nkan-American, political theatre artist/writer, director, comedian and music producer.
D’Lo loves to make people laugh and think – in no particular order.
D’Lo’s theater work is yummy and has been presented across the nation and globe. Recipient of multiple prestigious grants and awards including the National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund Award Grant and the Durfee Foundation grant, D’Lo’s innovative and cutting edge pieces (described below) have had runs in myriad prestigious theatres, including the New World Theater (Amherst), Pangea World Theater (Minneapolis), The Flea Theater as part of the National Asian American Theater Festival (New York) and Painted Bride (Philadelphia), Highways Performance Space (Los Angeles), and Ashe Cultural Center (New Orleans).
D’Lo’s global reach led to an invitation from the Asia Pacific Performance Exchange (APPEX) to participate in an international three week intensive residency in Bali with a particular focus on American and Asian artists through UCLA’s Center for Intercultural Performance. D’Lo has also vigorously toured the university and college circuit with stand up comedy and spoken word for over a decade, blowing audiences away with his outstandingly comical and nuanced look at the complexity of life and identity in contemporary America.
Celebrated as both a solo and collaborative artist, D’Lo took part in esteemed playwright Cherrie Moraga’s newest production entitled “Digging Up the Dirt,” and also directed fellow queer performance artist Adelina Anthony’s “La Hocicona Series”, which has had runs across the nation. D’Lo’s collaborative work extends into the community arena as well. D’Lo facilitates performance and writing workshops all over the world (US, Canada, UK, Germany, Sri Lanka and India), with organizations such as SATRANG and theater companies such as Teada Productions in L.A.
In addition to the performance work, D’Lo is respected within the academic arena as well. D’Lo’s life and work has been published in various anthologies and academic journals, most recently: Desi Rap: Hip Hop and South Asia America and Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic (co-edited by Sharon Bridgforth).
Currently, D’Lo is touring both the latest solo theater show Minor D’Tales and the full stand-up storytelling show “D’FunQT (Pronounced defunct)”. Additionally, D’Lo’s 2nd play Boys That Pray is going into development at Brava Theater in San Francisco for it’s stage reading at Brava Theater in San Francisco in 2011. www.dlocokid.com.
" Ramble-Ations is much more than a “I’m here, I’m queer, I’m transgendered” manifesto, as D’Lo bravely dives into personal conflictions, humorously (and convincingly) dons female drag to play several characters, and even gives us a slide-show documentation of a her/his childhood evolution from short-haired tomboy to a long-haired feminization under Southern Californian peer pressure to the bouncing, boyish, hip hop-styled persona that first greets us .
" Rarely will you find an artist with such polymorphous skill at storytelling and performance, one who understands the gentle, quiet rhythms of masterfully drawing a moment out and bringing it back in without being overly self-indulgent .
" [D’Lo] blew me away at the opening ceremony. D’Lo seemed to be about 12 feet tall with the power of generations of amazon women flowing through[D] as [D] spoke their names .