Dan Froot named Chair of UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance

August 15, 2018

Professor Dan Froot has been appointed chair of the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance (WACD) effective Jul. 1. Froot takes over from Professor Lionel Popkin, who has lead department since July 2015.

A producer, performance artist, writer, composer, dancer, and saxophonist, Dan began teaching in the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture in 1997 and joined the WACD faculty as associate professor in 2006. His 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 earned a New York Dance & Performance Award (known as a Bessie) for the creation of his music/theater work “Seventeen Kilos of Garlic” and is the recipient of other prestigious awards including a City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Fellowship and a playwriting commission from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture for the creation of his gangster-vaudeville, “Shlammer.” He collaborated with choreographer David Dorfman on “Live Sax Acts,” a series of dance, music, and 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.

Froot 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 renowned artists including Victoria Marks, Ralph Lemon, Yoshiko Chuma & The School of Hard Knocks, Mabou Mines, David Cale, Ping Chong, and the legendary Jeff Weiss.

“WACD is more than a leading-edge collective of doers/artists/scholars,” said Froot. “It’s a community, and one I am humbled to serve.”

^{Dan Froot, Pang!, photo by John Pemble.}