DBR Lab was founded by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), is managed by Malena Grosz, and documented by Keegan Carlson (photo and video credits). The Lab operates in close collaboration with DBR Music Productions, SOZO Artists, ASU GAMMAGE and is in residence at the School of Music, Dance and Theatre, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, Arizona State University. www.danielroumain.com/dbr-lab.

Performances by:
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‍Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), electric violin
‍Valentine Council, creative writing
‍Devanii, saxophone
Rea Drewett, cello
‍Phoebe Leong, composition
‍Yawen Luo, dance
‍Oliver! Padegimas, composition
‍Morgan Pinkerton, composition
‍Alex Skelton, trombone
‍Yashit Soti, storytelling
‍Daytona Taylor, piano

This is a seated performance.

// DBR Lab received major funding for this NYC appearance from The Jacki Apple Fund, established in 2022 from the estate of artist/writer/critic/scholar Jacki Apple, which supports artists and artist projects. The Fund is administered by Jacki’s sister, publisher/educator Marjorie Bank, advised by performer/writer/educator Jeff McMahon, educator/producer/curator Deborah Oliver, and diplomat/editor Stuart Jackson-Hughes. The Fund supports artists in Los Angeles, a community she championed in her writing, teaching, radio shows and artist practice, and in New York where her early career took place.

FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST CARL HANCOCK RUX

Carl Hancock Rux is an American poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, recording artist, actor, theater director, radio journalist, as well as a frequent collaborator in the fields of film, modern dance, and contemporary art. He is the author of several books including the Village Voice Literary Prize-winning collection of poetry, Pagan Operetta, the novel, Asphalt, and the Obie Award-winning play, Talk. His music has been released internationally on several labels including Sony/550, Thirsty Ear, and Giant Step. Mr. Rux is also co-Artistic Director of Mabou Mines and Associate Artistic Director/Curator In Residence at Harlem Stage. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Doris Duke Award for New Works, the Doris Duke Charitable Fund, the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Prize, the Bessie Award and the Alpert Award in the Arts, and a 2019 Global Change Maker award by WeMakeChange.Org. Mr. Rux's archives are housed at the Billy Rose Theater Division of the New York Public Library, the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution as well as the Film and Video/Theater and Dance Library of the California Institute of the Arts.

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ABOUT VALENTINE COUNCIL

Artist statement: Valentine is a writer, intellect, dancer, and sexual abuse survivor. Her creative practice focuses on interweaving and capturing real
emotions and experiences into a written medium. Her work hopes to foster a thought-provoking and empathetic response.

Project: Dear John Doe, - A collection of interview-style pieces documenting real accounts of sexual assault victims through a shared lens, crafting a raw emotional experience.

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ABOUT DEVANII

Artist Statement: 

GianCarlo Devanii Lay is a Latin-American  saxophonist, composer, and music producer  from Dallas, Texas. With story-telling and  connectivity at the root of his performance  style, Devanii aspires to forge genuine  human connection through his music. His  goal is to perform, teach, and create music  that inspires and uplifts the community, and  to discover his true artistic self in the process. 

Project: IMPULSE, for solo unaccompanied saxophone 

A reflection of my spontaneous and adventurous personality, IMPULSE attempts to break free from the confines of genre borders. Each section of the piece speaks to a different aspect of the saxophone’s abilities and features an assortment of techniques and colors that are particular and non-particular to the saxophone. The central theme of IMPULSE is the essence of spontaneous change and adaptation. My hope is to blur the line between the classically-informed and the jazz-influenced saxophone player in order to create an experience that is inviting for broader audiences. 

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FEATURING REA DREWETT

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ABOUT PHOEBE LEONG

Artist statement: Phoebe Leong is a multimedia composer, pianist, collaborator, and artist. Her work blends elements of lived experience and memory with a touch of whimsical humor.

Project: how to knit a scarf is composed for piano and spoken word, is an investigation into nostalgia, and is intended to be a snapshot of my childhood memories. It is dedicated to my grandmother and how she taught me how to knit when I was a young child.

This piece intertwines spoken passages that evoke childhood memories with piano passages and video of knitting.

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ABOUT YAWEN LUO

Artist statement: I am a dance artist blending choreography, technology, and Taoist-Buddhist philosophy and posthumanism into contemporary dance theater.

‍Project: Beyond Binary explores the Taoist concept of the equality of all things, shifting the perspective on the subjectivity of humans and machines. While machines are typically seen as serving human experience, what if we imagine a world where machines could appreciate human art? What would that reveal about the relationship between creation, perception, and existence? This work invites us to reimagine the boundaries between humanity and technology, exploring the profound and often overlooked potential of both.

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ABOUT OLIVER! PADEGIMAS

Artist statement: Oliver! Padegimas is a disabled creator-of-many-hats looking to bring light to the world and make an impact towards something better. With zir service dog, Pippa, Oliver! uses musical composition, singing, or any medium ze can get zir hands on to explore zir own truth and find a way to connect it to others. 

Project: Burn Through the Dark: A dimly lit, spoken-word downward-spiral to examine suicidal ideation, what exacerbates it, and what heals, with a heartfelt live and electronic score, and the help of friends. 

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ABOUT MORGAN PINKERTON

Artist Statement: Morgan Pinkerton is a composer, conductor, performer, educator, and artistic advocate. Her work focuses on her experiences as a disabled, queer survivor of abuse and the connection she can find with people who have experienced the world in similar and different ways. She believes music can express things words cannot, and her goal in every piece is to create a conversation between herself and the listener where they feel heard, no matter where or when they listen.

‍Project: this agonizing empathy expresses the pain of failing others and having to see them in pain

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ABOUT ALEXANDER SKELTON

Artist statement: 

Alexander Skelton is a young composer, trombonist, and  collaborator. His works as both a composer and musician focus on immersive storytelling that reflects his perspectives and experiences of the world. 

Project: Old-World Blues: A rhapsodic, jazz-filled trombone solo enriched with electronics, focused on the exploration of nostalgia and the enamoring of one’s past. Composition for Trombone and Electronics 

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ABOUT YASHITA SOTI

Artist Statement: I am Yashita, a poem writer and a storyteller, navigating the dualities of joy and pain, tradition and defiance. Growing up in a close-knit Indian family, I discovered my voice amidst the silences of betrayal and the warmth of love. My work seeks to unearth the unspoken, transforming vulnerability into power, and inspiring collective healing. Through spoken word, I honor the resilience that turns personal scars into universal connections.

‍Project: Silent Knots A raw and intimate journey into the heart of betrayal, silence, and the courage to speak truth. Through the visceral power of spoken word, I dig deep into the complexities of family, trauma, and the healing that comes from confronting our darkest moments.

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ABOUT DAYTONA TAYLOR

Artist statement: Daytona is a videographer, and composition artist with a focus on piano. He is pursuing a law degree while continuing to pour out his passion for music and artistic expression.

‍Project: 20 Promises - is a piano composition that explores past selves, what people hoped for their future, and how they are the living culmination of all their past selves.