Danielle Russo Performance Project is a co-operative of diverse artists who design interdisciplinary performances for non-traditional ‘stages.’ At home in Brooklyn, we primarily occupy public places—architectural, historical, and politically-charged environs—using performance and experiential technology as mechanisms for mutual storytelling and social activism, alike. Our mission is to foster critical, socially relevant dialogue between artists and the general public by providing open performances, creative workshops, and interactive programming. With an emphasis on the intersection of local arts and public access, our work aims to bridge existing gaps between what is all too often the exclusionary curation of live arts and the larger, multi-cultural milieu that is New York City.

Committed to audience and community engagement, Danielle Russo Performance Project (a.k.a. DRPP) prioritizes partnerships with local artists, non-profit organizations, and grass-root initiatives that align with its core values and endeavors. As a part of our ongoing programming, DRPP produces an open-level dance and music improvisation jam called Care to Dance. From this event, 100% of the proceeds are donated to non-profit and advocacy organizations making urgent appeals. Recipients have included the American Civil Liberties Union, Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, Black Lives Matter Global Network, Houston Food Bank, One Warm Coat, Planned Parenthood, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Educational and Legal Services — RAICES, and the U.S. Caribbean Strong Relief Fund, to name a few.

For more information about our community collaboratory series, click here.

Established in 2011, DRPP has been presented nationally at the American Dance Festival, Detroit Institute of Arts, International Writing Program, Jacob's Pillow, and The Yard; and internationally in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Mexico, Panama, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and Trinidad and Tobago. Local highlights have included Armory Arts Week, Julian Schnabel’s Casa del Popolo, Governors Island, HERE Arts Center, Lincoln Center, Moynihan Station, and The Oculus at the World Trade Center.

SENTINEL featuring Molly Griffin—one of five soloists—in the culminating installation at Brooklyn Historical Society to benefit the New York Civil Liberties Union in 2018. Photographs by Luke Ohlson and Scott Shaw.

Audiences were provided with audioguide headsets and interactive maps with personal testimonies and current statistics deriving from the stories pinned by the SENTINEL series after two years of in-the-field research, documentation, community engagement, and free site-specific, pop-up performances bringing attention to overlooked or under-publicized incidents across the city stemming from Trumpian politics, urging questions about complicity and bystanding.