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Biography

The author in his studio photographed by Nina von Noviki 2009

…maybe I should just reference that anarchic pull inside of me, the razzled strips of energy flowing through me, my grandiose moods, and my inability to sit still for bullshit or wait for the train…Perhaps it is my ancestral neuroses filtering through my brain, flooding my soul – the Bushmen of Africa, the Aboriginals of Australia, and the Adavasi of India all are historically nomadic peoples and have influenced my genetic make-up. It may have some relevancy, but it seems too academic.

Let’s get down to it: By “nomad,” I actually mean those who may be tramps, but specifically – those not allowed to be mad. No mad people. As in “You cannot be angry.”

Known as THE NOMAD JUNKIE due to his peripatetic lifestyle and artistic restlessness, DENNIS LEROY KANGALEE is a NYC-based artist from Queens born to West Indian parents. Actor, Writer, Director & Filmmaker, he has been an Outsider Artist from the get go. He has no degree and has won no awards. His poetry, stories, and scripts reflect his own anger and frustration as he sees the world's injustice in an everyday observation. An expelled actor from Juilliard and maverick of the New York underground, Kangalee has led several lives & is constantly looking for meaning.
His early theater work was a ferocious cocktail of American tragedy and revolutionary polemic. Between 1997 and 2002, he directed plays throughout NYC from Soho to Harlem (including fresh interpretations of Jame Baldwin's Blues for Mister Charlie, Brecht's Jungle of Cities, as well as Jean Genet's The Maids). Urged by the Last Poets to continue writing prose during the creation of his 2001 NYC-based movie about racism and its consequences, As an Act of Protest, (written & directed under his stage name, Dennis Leroy Moore) a powerful avant-garde drama that has now earned status as a cult film, Kangalee's writing is both political and personal. Inspired by the Black Arts Movement, punk, and Theater of the Absurd, Kangalee draws inspiration from his own life as opposed to Literary History or knowledge of the classics. He has explored and rendered art works in different forms: video/motion pictures, poetry/print, theater, screenplays, music, audio recordings, etc. He regards his work as part one of large hammer against oppression, capitalism, cruelty, and stupidity. He writes for the little man caught in the snow and beneath the corporate avalanche, those who draw lines in the sand--the losers, the rebels, the tormented, and the romantic rovers hovering on the margins of the mainstream who dare to try to make sense of "life in society" and the doorway of 21st Century-Brave New World-ethos.
He has held an embarrassing amount of menial jobs, has taught, lectured, swept floors, led protests, taught acting classes, washed dishes, etc,. and since 1997, he is proud to say that he has begged, borrowed, and stolen to support his art. Now, however, instead of chasing and slaying dragons, he has become more interested in cultivating gardens and letting the muse visit on her own time...
Kangalee recently appeared as the Nomad Junkie in his performance piece Gentrified Minds (The NY Horror Vol. 2), a theatrical adaptation of his dystopic New York writings excoriating the nature of gentrification, with music by The Children of Warhol. It premiered April 22, 2011 at 8PM at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center as part of the 9th Annual Downtown Urban Theater Festival. Directed by Nina Fleck, original music co-written by Bob Kuch, it was Kangalee's last performance in NYC.
Contact the Nomad Junkie at: info@nomadjunkie.com

info@nomadjunkie.com