Performance Lab
Exploring Social Relations & Human Conflict through Performance
The Performance Lab works with theatre artists and organizations across the country to produce and support cultural events and bridge-building activities that explore human conflict and social relations through the lens of performance—both on the stage and in life. Increasingly recognized as a powerful engine of development, performance is at the heart of the All Stars Project (ASP), where people of all ages and from all walks of life are supported to perform and experience new ideas, people and cultures as they learn and grow together.
The Performance Lab was founded and is led by Gabrielle Kurlander, ASP Founding CEO (1989-2023) and member of its Board of Directors. Ms. Kurlander has a 35-year career in political, multicultural and avant-garde theatre as an actor, award-winning director and producer.
Initiatives of Performance Lab include:
To learn more about this, click here.
Transformative Community Theatre
Gabrielle L. Kurlander directed and produced All Stars’ Hip Hop Cabaret in April 2025. The production combined the worlds of Hip Hop and Cabaret to create a cultural mash-up of songs, raps, hip hop and modern dance, spoken word and more. The production highlighted Dallas Boogie, a form of hip hop dance native to the Dallas area, and featured dances created by Dallas Boogie icon Lejin and contemporary dances created by Dallas’ Bombshell Dance Project. Please click here to see a sizzle reel of highlights from the show.
Ms. Kurlander directed The 1619 Project, One-Act Festival at the Bishop Arts Theatre Center in Dallas. The festival consisted of seven original plays inspired by The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. It featured a Talk Back with festival dramaturg and Princeton professor Khalil Gibran Muhammed, Ph.D., with Ms. Hannah-Jones.
Ms. Kurlander also directed a play reading of BALDWIN/KENNEDY, a new play by Jared Glenn and Jacqueline Salit, at the Castillo Theatre in New York City. Additionally, she helmed award-winning playwright Paula Vogel’s Indecent at the Emerson Theater Collaborative in Sedona, AZ, and directed a workshop production of This time by Brian Dang at the Undermain Theatre in Dallas.
Click here for a brochure on the Performance Lab.
If you would like to learn more about Performance Lab or have any questions, please contact Dan Kelly at dkelly@allstars.org.
Performance can and must play a critical role in building the bridges necessary for moving our country toward a shared community and humanity. This is the role culture plays, and I am excited to be working on this new dynamic cultural platform at the All Stars Project
Gabrielle Kurlander
Left to Right: Annie Adair-Skinner, Ginger Goldman, J.R. Bradford, Monique Ridge, Chatyra Miller, Ethan Newell, Lauren Floyd, Curtisha Starks, Beau Thompson, Tonya Shaw
Left to Right: Jeremy Goren, Kirstyn Lazur, Elie Benhiyoun, Becki Zaritsky, Brad Burgess, Emma Harris, Cathy Salit, Sandi Schenholm, Shoshana Wilder
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Chioma Igwebuike, ASP Alum, Associate- Investment Banking Division Compliance, Goldman Sachs; Board member, ASP of New Jersey
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Cedric Soglohoun, ASP Alum, Machine Operator, Flex
“When I joined ASP, I experienced the power of performance. DSY taught me to perform bigger than I thought possible, and the All Stars Talent Show Network gave me the confidence to uplift other young people like me.”
Dwayne Dixon, ASP Alum, Program Director, ASP of Chicago
“Through All Stars, I learned to perform confidence and step into spaces I never thought I belonged in. That journey brought me to UC Santa Barbara and back to ASP, where I’m now helping youth build their futures.”
Larry Huynh, ASP Alum, Program Associate at ASP of SF Bay Area and Virtual Programs
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Emily Munguia, ASP Alum, Assistant Director of Development at ASP of New York
“All Stars has given me hope, opportunity, confidence and long-lasting relationships that I still carry with me today. My first DSY internship opened new doors for me professionally and has shaped my trajectory 15 years later. My aspiration through the work of the ALC (Alumni Leadership Council) is to bring the gift of development to as many young people as possible.”
Avriel Kelly, ASP Alum, AVP, Business Support Manager, Bank of America
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