gabriel - 2014 to present

is a solo project.

working with gabriel mata, professional dancer in san jose, ca.

exploring mexican-american identity, citizenship, queerness, embodied memory, desire, and where contemporary meets tradition

 

Since July 2014, I have been collaborating with Gabriel to develop choreographic and written material that unpacks his personal story. At the age of five he was brought to the US from Mexico by strangers while his mom was crossing in the desert. Gabriel grew up gay in a household with an abusive stepfather, and his lack of citizenship is in conflict with his desire to travel abroad, and in particular, to Mexico. Our stories are very different, but intersect in interesting ways, especially as I have been a mentor and artistic figure in his life for a few years and am also trying to unpack/visibilize my own Mexican-American family experiences and background through research and performance. We are working to develop and honor his story and to also challenge the ways in which his story might be told. We are creating a movement vocabulary that relies on his Jose Limon training, but that seeks to find possibility away from the codes through which Limon translates meaning. The intersection of Gabriel’s citizenship, sexuality and dance interests are woven together with spoken word, gestural movement and contemporary movement vocabularies. “Gabriel: A Prologue” was presented at the Dance Portfolio Concert at San Jose State on May 4-5, 2015 as a twelve minute study. We will continue to work together through Fall 2015 to further develop “Gabriel” into a thirty- minute work. Ultimately, “Gabriel” and “Little Yellow Leo…” will be paired together in an evening, tentatively scheduled for winter 2016.

 

selected rehearsal footage