PERFORMANCE ARTIST. THEATER AND FILM ACTRESS. WRITER. PRODUCER.

Group of five people lounging on a bed covered with paper money, with cardboard cutouts of a woman wearing a pink mask and a man with a dollar bill face mask. Two individuals are wearing masks with a woman's face on them. One person has a large headpiece made of dollar bills, and a large projection of a woman's face with face paint and dollar bills behind them is in the background. The scene appears to be an art installation.
Group of people wearing masks with images of women on their faces, some holding dollar bills, and papers with printed images of money and faces, in a room with purple and pink lighting.

Apocalypse: Artists Respond
Art Gallery @ BC, Brooklyn, NYC

Dorothea Gloria (she/her) is a Filipina theater-maker, actress, and performance artist based in New York City. Her work weaves ritual, community, and contemporary storytelling, with artistic research focused on mourning practices from the Ilocos region of the Philippines and their translation into contemporary performance. Grounded in process-driven creation, her work centers on collaboration, cultural memory, and collective exchange.

Dorothea is the founder of RiffRaff NYC, an artist-led platform dedicated to developing new work and sharing multicultural stories through collaborative performance. Through RiffRaff, she nurtures artists in creating pieces that reflect diverse lived experiences while building community through generative and exploratory processes.

As an actress, Dorothea has performed with Spellbound Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights, The Flea Theater, and other New York–based companies. In the Philippines, she has worked with Repertory Philippines, PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association), and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. She completed the conservatory program at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.

She is currently the Co-President of The League of Professional Theatre Women. When not in rehearsal, she can often be found in Bryant Park practicing juggling and flow arts.

Dorothea’s project called Alay was awarded support from a grant given by the Mellon Foundation through Social Practice CUNY, enabling the development of this project through workshops, research, and public-facing participatory performance.

Alay (Tagalog for “to offer”) is a participatory performance ritual that recontextualizes Ilocano mourning practices into a contemporary, communal space for embodied grief and collective healing. The project invites participants to engage grief not as something to resolve, but as something to be witnessed, shared, and transformed together.

Alay weaves storytelling, movement, music, and ritual objects to guide participants through remembrance, release, and renewal. Drawing from Ilocano traditions such as atang (offerings to the dead), lukay (wearing of black ribbons), and gulgul (river cleansing), alongside contemporary performance practices, the work creates a framework where grief is held communally and processed through the body.

A person lying on the floor, drawing or writing on a piece of paper, with a marker and eraser nearby.
A woman with glasses and long dark hair wearing a black t-shirt, white turtleneck, and headband, appears upset or crying, standing in front of a light-colored wall with a metal door or pipe visible in the background.
A woman with long dark hair, wearing a black top, gold earrings, and a headband, smiling and gesturing with her hands in a casual indoor setting near windows.

Movement Research Inc., NYC

A person with dark hair, wearing a patterned shawl, performing a dance move on a stage with purple and yellow lighting, with part of a sign visible in the background.
Two women standing on stage during a performance or event, with a large screen behind them displaying an image of a field with flags, a tower, and the text 'September 2021'.
Two women stand behind a table holding a woven basket high. The woman on the left is wearing glasses, a multicolored tie-dye shirt, and a headscarf. The woman on the right has long dark hair, is wearing a patterned vest, earrings, and wristbands. The table has various decorative items and containers.
Three women standing behind a table with decorative sculptures and items, one taking a selfie, one with eyes closed and hands up, and one covering her face, in a stage setting with a plain background.

Connections at LPAC, Queens, NYC

Connections by Dorothea Gloria and Handan Ozbilgin has been awarded the New Works Grant from the Queens Council of the Arts. Queens Council on the Arts offers project-based grants to Queens individual artists, artist collectives, and small non-profit organizations to support local production of art work and cultural programs that highlight, engage, and bolster the diverse communities of the Queens borough. Connections is a show that will engage audience members in the Queens borough to reflect on their memories and experiences of the pandemic and hopefully allow a chance for healing and moving forward. Connections will take a closer look on social, cultural, and historical stories that invite audience members to investigate their relationship with themselves and other people. 

When the land is sick, you’re sick is a visceral performance ritual linking environmental violence to bodily distress. Poetry of retribution, hulahooping, and somatic screaming transform ecological grief into physical reckoning.

A person performing with a microphone on stage, with a colorful, abstract background projection.
Three performers on a dark stage with digital backdrops displaying colorful, abstract, and digital-like images. One person is sitting cross-legged on the floor with a hula hoop around them. Another stands with arms raised, also with a hula hoop, and the third stands at a microphone, possibly singing or speaking.

When the land is sick, you’re sick

Barnard Movement Lab, NYC

Follow the chronicles of alien and abominable snowman as they figure out a life in New York City. Through moments of humor, tenderness, and quiet loneliness, the series explores alienation and isolation, not just as conditions of being “other,” but as deeply human experiences; and asks what it takes to claim belonging when your very existence marks you as different.

Two people sitting on a table in a dark room watching a shadow puppet show projected on the wall, with a person operating a flashlight or projector in the foreground.
An alien figure wearing a green face mask waving in Times Square at night with illuminated billboards and people walking on the street.
A giant white fluffy dog with a beard standing in front of the Statue of Liberty in New York City.

Mourning Machine is a low-stakes participatory ritual designed to honor the history and resilience of the NYC theater community during a time of uncertainty and reconfiguration. The gathering will feature Coffin Karaoke, lasagna, drinks, sparkly clown-tears, and more! Come sing a song, deliver an impromptu eulogy, or just hang out. This event is part of an ongoing research & performance project about the “practice” of grieving-in-community as a form of political resistance.

Mourning Machine was created by a polydicsciplinary ensemble that includes Mollie Andron, Jess Applebaum, Mica Baum-Tuccillo, Nic Benacerraf, Choco Garcia Rivera, Kate Fry, Dorothea Gloria, Bea Martino, and Austin Purnell.

Edge Effect is a “think and do tank” that creates participatory experiences for individuals to share knowledge across personal, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries.

www.edgeeffectmedia.org/

*This project is made possible in part with funds from Creative Engagement, a regrant program funded by DCLA, NYSCA, and the Howard Gilman Foundation, and administered by LMCC.

Group of people sitting and standing in a warmly lit indoor room, some covered with blankets, with a dog lying on the floor nearby, and a music stand or podium in front of them.
People dancing and enjoying themselves at an indoor gathering or party, with some seated and others standing or dancing.
A woman singing into a microphone with a TV behind her displaying a beach scene and song lyrics reading "Please don't break it, take my heart and". Flowers are arranged on a wooden surface in front of the TV.
A woman smiling during a video call projected on a screen, decorated with a sparkling tablecloth and small decorative items, with purple laser lights and a small purple crystal ball on a table.
A woman with dark curly hair and a brown sweater speaking into a microphone on stage. Behind her, a large screen displays an artist named Aegis and a microphone graphic, with a shiny, gold, fringed table visible.
A woman standing behind a red podium reads from a book on stage, flanked by four people, with a large screen displaying her image and text behind them. Audience members are seated in front.
A man wearing a white face mask holding a box labeled 'progress' in front of a pink background with a white circle.
People standing and raising their hands, participating in an activity or performance, with some wearing masks, in a room with red flooring and benches.
A young woman with a braid and light yellow shirt looks serious while talking with two people, a woman with curly hair and a man wearing glasses and a mask, in a dimly lit room.
People on stage unveiling a car covered with a red cloth at an event or presentation.

Everybody Is Gone is an innovative live event that provides audiences with a unique perspective on the ongoing crisis in the Uyghur Homeland. Uniting elements of journalism, live performance, and museum exhibition, the immersive event offers audiences the opportunity to deeply and personally understand the impact of the state-backed surveillance and oppression that affect millions.

For more information, visit

www.everybodyisgone.org/

Presented at Alte Münze in Berlin, Germany