Born in Washington DC and originally destined to be a marine biologist, Dani instead fell enthralled to the power of story, and has designed, directed, production managed, devised, and produced theatre, narrative and experimental film, short form content, multi-sensory art installations, immersive performances and transmedia for almost fifteen years in locations across the USA and Great Britain. She has been honored to collaborate with and facilitate projects for a wide range of artists, including Laurie Anderson, Anohni, New York Magazine, The Kitchen NYC, Silas Reiner & Rashaun Mitchell, XI.ME.NA, the Women’s March, Violet Machine, the Poetry Society of America, and Frances Cone. At the heart of her work is an evolving quest to harness art for community empathy and action; her 2016 film And, Apart (which made the US festival circuit) inspired an ongoing filmic, gallery, and interactive series exploring the human facets, history, and societal impact of loss - and was a turning point in her practice.
That project is now titled Letters to the Lost and is gaining traction as a publicly accessible work devoted to offering safe space to share our personal losses, and celebrating the power of doing so.
Dani is currently in the throes of producing two sister projects on national empathy across political and geographic divides, for which she was awarded the Menagerie Residency in Seattle: Places, a tv series on the behind-the-scenes of small town life; and This Great America - a virtual gallery devoted to exploring the lifestyles and landscapes that make up this beautiful world, which was available as several physical installations across Santa Fe, NM, as part of the Windows to the Future exhibit produced by Vital Spaces. This Great America has also spawned an interactive live-streamed series titled Human Insite, launching February 2021, sharing visits with human beings around the globe.
She is currently serving as the inaugural 2020-2021 City Artist in Residence for the town of Granite Falls in the beautiful land of Mni Sota Makoce, using art and creative practices to help increase civic engagement, community inclusivity, and helping to design a program blueprint that can be replicated and adapted to other communities.
