During the COVID-19 pandemic, many artists are feeling out of their element in their creative practices. Joe’s Pub is supporting joyful, collaborative work by offering micro-commissions to 8 duos of artists/performers who have never worked together before. This piece - by Dana Lyn and Leonard Cruz - is the result of one of these joyful, collaborative pairings. 

Artists were encouraged to tap any side of their creativity that is bringing them joy during this time, whether meant working in their normal medium or experimenting with something outside of their genre.

Shapeshifting Game by Dana Lyn and Leonard Cruz will premiere on our YouTube channel and IGTV at noon ET on Thursday, July 15.

Brooklyn-based musician Dana Lyn has performed at New York’s Lincoln Center, Beacon Theater, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall and Town Hall, as well as folk festivals and dive bars the world over. A violinist/fiddler, violist, pianist and enthusiastic bass player, she is at home in a wide range of musical genres. Dana is an alum of the Joe’s Pub Working Group, and was recently awarded a 2020 NYFA Women’s Fund Award for Media, Music and Theater and a Sundance Composer Lab Fellow in 2021.

Dr. Leonard Cruz – founder of the Creativity, Arts and Resilience Project (C.A.R.P.) – is a performer, choreographer, teacher, arts integration consultant, a creative inclusivity promoter, and contemplative culture advocate. He envisions a world where creativity, the arts, and the contemplative practices unites us all and excludes no one.