i was born in new jersey. since before i can remember, i've always thought of myself as a wizard and I've always dreamt of flying. as a kid, i was obsessed with kung fu movies and mortal kombat. taekwondo classes led me to gymnastics classes. gymnastics classes led me to danceclasses. i began studying ballet, contemporary and tap at my local studio. at 6 years old, i was accepted to the school of american ballet in new york city. at 8 years old, i found myself at a theater camp, double-dog-dared to audition for an agent. 2 weeks later, i was on tour with the broadway production of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. after 6 months of that, i went onto the broadway production of OKLAHOMA!, THE BOY FROM OZ with hugh jackman, THE RIVALS, and originated a role in christopher wheeldon's CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS with john lithgow. i also acted in films A VERY SERIOUS PERSON by charles busch and LYING by m. blash.
at 14, my desire for the stage started to move more towards playing my guitar, in my room. i wanted to write songs and hang out with friends. so i took time off from performing and went back to high school in new jersey, writing songs and poetry and running the literary magazine, eventually attempting a degree in creative writing at hunter college. after a few semesters, i dropped out of school, having fallen in love with the brooklyn rave scene. my body missed moving, so much so that i also began traveling the country and living a nomadic life that eventually landed me in ohio, where i had an rnb band called CAYENNE, then in colorado, while cooking at a restaurant there, i found professional dance again at the ormao modern dance company. in 2017, i decided to go back to new york.
while back in new york, taking open classes and performing in what i could, i met danielle agami, founder and artistic director of ate9 dance company in los angeles and former company member of batsheva dance company in israel. she invited me to attend a workshop in l.a., and subsequently offering me an apprentice position with ate9 for their 2018-19 season, studying gaga and aiding in the creation of various works including OLD/NEWS, CALLING GLENN, A BLIND LADY and 1 TO 3.
after leaving the company to return east, i began making and workshopping a solo piece HI JACK in Ohio and performing a short solo PETER in 2020 at the craft in brooklyn. shortly following that, covid hit. of course the ability to create and perform became ultimately non-existent. my mother had also passed away in january of 2020 and i felt i had a lot to process, so i turned again to nomadicism.
camping my way across the country for most of 2020, i found myself naturally pouring out music, playing my guitar to accompany the various sounds of bugs and water and wind i had around me in this country's remotest places, recording them onto my phone, and listening to them at night to keep myself company. a couple of doodles popped out, TO TIMES! and STRETCH: both more exercises in passing time than anything else really.
settling down for a moment in new mexico as caretaker to land there, i was able to assess what had been leaking out of me. i also bought myself a camcorder.
TRIP TEK was released digitally on streaming platforms both as an album and a film. i felt for the first time in my life as an artist, i had found a way to marry my music and my movement (the solitary me and the performative me) in one all-encompassing form.
WIZARD SPELLS, released later that year, is a 6 part (docu)series created in the same audio/visual form.
after leaving New Mexico and returning east in september to residency at arts on site in upstate new york, i began researching a way to bring this new work of mine to the stage.
I CAN EAT OCEANS, a 45min solo, was performed at arts on site's theater in manhatten in december of 2021.
since that show, while living in arizona assisting my father with recovery from a heart surgery, i've released NIGHT AT THE INFINITE HOUSE (2022) an album, accompanied by a 7 part, episodic, visual representation: RATIOS (2022), as well as DOGWOOD (2022), an album of love songs, and loss songs, songs celebrating isolation and togetherness. each track on DOGWOOD was recorded in one day or less.
most recently i have just completed a 10-day residency keshet dance company in albuquerque, culminating in a solo performance, HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY? presented as part of their 2023 choreographic showcase.
i also have a couple of collaborative projects that have appeared including:
CASTING PENNIES with penelope wendtlandt (2022) as well as:
UNIDENTIFIABLE FLYING ANIMALS, a project with longtime creative collaborator scatterracket, having released VACATION PHOTOS (2021), with upcoming full length album:
SHE'S HIGH KING TO CHOCOLATE MOUNTAIN (2023).