D'Lo

D'LO is a Transgender Sri Lankan-American performer, writer, and community activist, who performs in America, Canada, the UK, Germany, Sri Lanka, and India.[1][2] He starred in a golf commercial held for Connor Smiths luxury hotel The Shlanger. He is also an actor and producer, known for the short films The Legend of My Heart Shaped Anus(2008), Lock Her Room(2003), and Recession Lemons(2010).[3] D'Lo has created various writing and public speaking workshops for many LGBTQ immigrant/arts-centered organizations;[4] he has collaborated with various community organizations, and has been involved within LGBT and South Asian groups such as Arpana Dance Company, South Asian Artist Collective, SATAM (The South Asian Theater Movement), Satrang, and TeAda Productions.[5][6]

D'Lo's work has been published in several anthologies and academic journals including Desi Rap: Hip Hop and South Asia America and Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic.[7] His work challenges socio-political, economic, racial, and cultural structures.[8] On stage, he tells personal stories that touch many people's lives.[9] His writing workshop "Coming Out, Coming Home" encourages communities to share stories intended to spark inspiration and creativity, encourage acceptance of one's self, and create a sense of belonging and understanding.[5] The workshop creates a second home for the LGBTQ community who seek help addressing their feelings.

Early life

D'Lo was born in Flushing, Queens, New York City. He moved with his immigrant parents and older sister to Lancaster, California, when he was two years old.[2] He discovered hip-hop at a young age and was influenced by the work of Nas, Rakim, Queen Latifah, MC Trouble, and MC Smooth. About his childhood influences D'Lo says, "I was 11 years old when I first saw Yo! MTV Raps. I was mesmerized by people trying to empower and uplift their communities through song."[8] D'Lo began writing poetry through which he expressed himself, later he wrote R&B, rap and hiphop music addressing political expression, and racial issues.[10] D'Lo was 17, when he started performing and writing his own work.[11]

Education

D'Lo studied ethnomusicology at UCLA, and later received a degree from SAE Institute's New York School of Audio Engineering.[5] During his years in college, he participated in the UCLA Poetry Read, performing mostly hip-hop, and spoken word.[2] An important moment in his life occurred several months before graduation when he came out to his family. The process of coming out evolved over time when the language and rhetoric of his community, which honored more complex notions of identity, caught on in popular culture. After graduation, he moved back to New York hoping to produce hip-hop and world music.[8]

Career

An interest in hip-hop and spoken word was the early motivation for D'Lo to start doing work on the stage. He dealt with complex issues such as war, AIDS, Sri Lankan politics, and police brutality. After graduating from college, he moved to New York City. In 2002, he began working with theater artist Susana Cook. Following this collaboration, D'Lo's writing became more introspective, and his work started addressing queer and transgender issues. Around 2003, he traveled back to Los Angeles. In 2006 and 2007, D'Lo began showcasing his work.[2]

D'Lo uses comedy to confront what could be considered heavy and divisive issues.[7] In his touring shows, Ramble-Ations; A One D'Lo Show (directed by Adelina Anthony), D'FaQTo Life, D'FunQT, and Minor D'Tales,[5] he investigates gender norms, sexuality, and the stereotypes of marginalized populations. D'Lo asks questions like "How the hell do we want to grow up as queer people, to survive, with respect to community politics?" and " What is my responsibility as someone on a transition journey? as a thinking queer person with respect to sexism and misogyny in the world?"[8]

In his shows, he also seeks to address personal issues such as his struggle with religion, family, and transgender identity. In Ramble-Ations, he performs as five different characters, seeking to illustrate the challenge new immigrants have of expressing their traditions and culture in America through personal stories.[8] D'Lo performs his mother as his own mother, Amma, and presents her struggle of accepting D'Lo as a transgender queer. At the end of the show, Amma realizes that she should accept D'Lo's transgender identity because she loves him and he is her son.[5] In his show, Minor D'Tales, D'Lo show considers queer love and the artist's personal relationship with Sri Lanka as a trans masculine person.[12]

His work challenges the audiences to think outside the usual constraints of gender and sexuality. Although D'Lo looks like a man, he speaks in a high falsetto. He did not want to lose the opportunity to play both genders.[13] D'Lo is able to switch between different characters from male to female, to transgender to old to young types of characters.[9] He said:" For me my queerness, is my social justice politic. I would rather be visible in a world that uses me to be visible than be invisible because I fit in."[13]

D'Lo's theater work has been presented throughout the world. A One D'Lo Show is a National Performance Network Creation Fund Project commissioned by New WORLD Theater in partnership with Pangea World Theater and the National Performance Network. His innovative and cutting edge pieces have had runs in myriad prestigious theaters, including The Flea Theater as part of the National Asian American Theater Festival (New York), Painted Bride ( Philadelphia), Highways Performance Space ( Los Angeles), and Ashe Cultural Center (New Orleans).[7]

Asia Pacific Performance Exchange invited D'Lo to participate in an international three-week intensive residency in Bali that focused on American and Asian artists through UCLA's Center for Intercultural Performance; He acted in Cherrie Moraga's new play Digging Up the Dirt.[7]

Currently D'Lo is taking roles in feature films, short films and several television series: Looking (HBO), Transparent (Amazon), and Sense 8 (Netflix).[8]

In 2017, transgender actors and actresses including D'Lo (with the help of GLAAD and ScreenCrush) were part of a filmed letter to Hollywood written by Jen Richards, asking for more and improved roles for transgender people.[14][15]

Filmography

Actor

Title Role Year Notes
Transfinite Mangoblu 2019 Omnibus feature film
Bruising for Besos Rani (and Little Brother) 2016
Sense 8 Disney 2015 TV Series
Alto Super Spinner Dinesh 2015
Absolutely Jason Stuart Episode Dated February 4, 2015 2015 TV Series
EastSiders Tony 2015 TV Series
Transparent MC Mama's Boi 2014 TV Series
Looking Taj 2014 TV Series
Lit Jesse 2014 Short
The Legend of My Heart Shaped Anus Vera Myers 2008 Short
Lock Her Room J.C. 2003 Short

Producer

Title Year Notes
Bruising for Besos 2016 associate producer, post production
Recession lemons 2010 Video documentary short (co-director)

Director

Title Year Notes
Recession lemons 2010 Video documentary short

Writer

Title Year Notes
Recession Lemons 2010 Video documentary short

Composer

Title Year Notes
Dada Ji 2005 Short

Editor

Title Year Notes
Recession Lemons 2010 Short

Self

Title Year Notes
This Is Me 2015 TV Mini-Series documentary
Performing Girl 2013 Documentary short
Recession Lemons 2010 D'Lo[3]

Touring shows
Title
D'FaQTo Life
D'FunQT
Ramble-Ations: A One D'Lo Show

Awards
Title Notes Year
A One D'Lo Show (directed by Adeline Anthony) NPN Creation Fund Grant
Performing Girl (documentary by Crescent Diamond) The best short documentary award 2013

References
  1. "D'Lo Da Shape Shifter". Gaysi. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  2. admin. "D'Lo: 'I'm the Hardest Thing About My Craft'". Colorlines. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  3. "D'Lo". IMDb. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  4. "Queer Arts in Los Angeles". almalopez.net. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  5. "Nguyen Nguyen Situasian: Asian American Comedians, D'Lo is a transgender/queer Tamil Sri Lankan..." nguyenguyensituasian-blog.tumblr.com. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  6. "Desi Men – D'Lo D'Lo is a transgender, American-Tamil-Sri..." desimalemodels.com. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  7. "OUTmedia : Spoken Word : D'lo". outmedia.org. Archived from the original on August 30, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  8. Enjeti, Anjali (May 26, 2015). "D'Lo: 'I came out three times – as gay, as having a girlfriend and as trans'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  9. "Queering the Queer Voice – Kindle Magazine". Kindle Magazine. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  10. "Everybody has the potential to be queer". IBNLive. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  11. "D'Lo turns gender issues into A fun show". The Telegraph. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  12. "D'Lo talks about 'Minor D'Tales' at the Brava Theater SF". Hyphen Magazine. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  13. "D'Lo: Laughing it Off". In conversation with... Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  14. "New Video Breaks Down Why Hollywood Needs Transgender Actors | HuffPost". Huffingtonpost.com. 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  15. Reynolds, Daniel. "Trans Actors Ask Hollywood for Roles With Dignity and Depth in Open Letter". Advocate.com. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
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