Daniel Allen Nelson began his theater career performing as a young adult in the vibrant theater community of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Notable Twin Cities companies with which he worked include: Theatre de la Jeune Lune, and their epic Children of Paradise:Shooting a Dream, Jungle Theater, Mixed Blood Theater, Red Eye Collaboration, and The Guthrie Theater.
He obtained a BFA in acting from UCSB, and was active for several years in the theater community of Santa Barbara, CA, performing with Ensemble Theater Co., Center Stage Theater, and Theatre Artists Group. He wrote and created a full-length solo work, Sympathy for the Devil, which was inspired by the intriguing story of Andrew Cunnanan’s several month-long killing spree, and had its premiere at Center Stage Theater.
In 2000 he relocated to the East Coast to continue his education in the MFA Theater program at Towson University. While pursuing his degree, Daniel collaborated with Artistic Director Juanita Rockwell designing sets and puppets for the premiere of Cave in the Sky at St. Ann’s Puppet Lab, as well as Donna di Novelli’s Sound of Waves at Mabou Mines. Since 2003, he has been based in New York City, where he has worked as a performer, writer, director, designer, and producer with many productions and directors. He cultivated an ongoing relationship with The Ontological-Hysteric Theater, serving as Richard Foreman’s Sound Designer on several productions, and co-curating/producing the development of new works by many of New York’s most notable experimental theater artists as part of the Ontological Incubator Series. It was here that Daniel began his collaboration with Annie, Temple, and Morgan Pecelli in what would quickly evolve into unique relationships for generating and creating their own original works- Woof Nova.
Daniel continues his work as a hybrid theater artist, having worked with many of New York’s notable theater artists and venues including: LaMama ETC, PS 122, The Public Theater, Incubator Arts Project, Dance Theater Workshop, Dixon Place, The Kitchen, 3-Legged Dog, The Brick Theater, Object Collection, Pioneers Go East, John Jesurun, Chris Tanner, Everett Quinton, Ellen Stewart, Kara Feely, Chris Yon, Andrew Dinwiddie, Livia de Paolis, Jeff McMahon, Lanny Harrison, Les Simpson, Kestutis Nakas, Joshua Gelb, Jack Hofsiss, Theodora Skipitares, Jeanette Yew, Adam Burnett, and Marie-Christine Katz, among others.