Dan is a director, writer, professor, mask maker, and the founder of the Original Play Festival at CSUSB, Off the Cuff, a Los Angeles based improvisational troupe and co-founder of Sanctuary Stage.  He is the director for Linn Benton Community College's Theater Department, and the state representative for the American Alliance for Theater and Education (AATE) in Oregon.

    He has directed productions from classic greek to traditional Nigerian folk stories and has been a director/videographer for numerous television affiliates and production houses.  In addition, he has collaborated with playwrights on play development for colleges, festivals and KC/ACTF, and has received awards for his plays 'Boxes' and 'Lunchpails' at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.  His playwriting and directing of original scripts with Sanctuary Stage includes community-engaged theater-making projects; script development through scenario and improvisation; music composition; and public art installations.  Currently, Dan is spearheading the co-writing of the community-engaged theater-making project  Bravo Zulu. This project is in partnership with local veteran organizations and will culminate in an original play that will focus on military personnel and their families after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

     Dan's training includes work with the American International School of Commedia dell'Arte based in Philadelphia and the International School of the Comic Actor in Reggio Emilia; he is also personally trained by world renowned Italian artist, Maestro Antonio Fava. Also, Dan's work in experimental theatre and developing original plays was fostered by Dr. Ron Argelander, former chair of the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University.   In addition to his physical theatre training, Dan has been teaching Chinese martial arts, philosophy, and culture since 1996, is a member of the Tai-Mantis Kung Fu Association and the Martial Arts Teacher's Association.  Dan is a disciple of and a certified 'Sifu' by Sifu Don Newton, and Sigung Liang Kam Yuen, former technical director of "Kung Fu" the television series and founder of the Yuen Method, holistic healing process.

    Dan received his MFA in Directing and BA in Acting and Dramatic Literature.  As chair of the Visual and Performing Arts Department of St. Bernard's College Prep he developed and implemented a comprehensive theater program that has fostered the artistic development of students who have gone on to create theater careers of their own.