RODRIGO ESTEVA y MIRAH KELLC MORIARTY,
Co-fundadores y Directores > Ve Curriculum Vitae aquí
Rodrigo y Mirah son los directores co-fundadores de DANCE MONKS (Área de la Bahía de San Francisco / Yucatán) fundada en el año 1999 mientras vivían en las montañas de Xalapa, México. Su trabajo experimental e interdisciplinario profundiza en la relación íntima y ancestral entre las personas y la Naturaleza. Ellos ven la danza como un medio poderoso para reavivar nuestra relación con el medio ambiente y con los demás. Rodrigo y Mirah están comprometidos a hacer arte como una forma de vida; Como una disciplina diaria en la escucha profunda y la acción receptiva. A menudo colaboran con artistas y creadores de cambios cuyo trabajo incluye la mitología, el folklore y el ritual.
Rodrigo y Mirah han enseñado y actuado internacionalmente durante los últimos 20 años como dúo y ampliamente con compañías de renombre mundial, como miembros de la Compañía de Danza AXIS físicamente integrada (2007-08, Oakland) y la Compañía de Teatro de Danza Pearson Widrig (1994-2001, NYC) en los principales festivales, universidades y renombradas sedes de los Estados Unidos y México, así como en Canadá, Perú y Europa, incluyendo: la Universidad de Veracruz en Xalapa (México), el Teatro Joyce (NY), el Centro Kennedy (DC) ), The Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival (NY), Bates Dance Festival (ME), Middlebury College (VT), Bard College (NY), Ibero American University of Mexico City, FAEL (Festival de Artes Escenicas) de Lima, Entre muchos otros. Ver curriculum completo aqui.
Mirah nació en Vermont y tiene una Maestría en Bellas Artes (MFA) en Danza (2014) de la Universidad de Hollins en colaboración con William Forsythe de Alemania. También estudió danza formalmente en la Escuela para el Desarrollo de la Nueva Danza (SNDO / EDDC) de Amsterdam, Oberlin College (OH) y recibió su Licenciatura en Artes (B.A.) en Goddard College (VT) con un enfoque en Artes Interdisciplinarias. Comenzó su entrenamiento como gimnasta de élite y creció con la compañía multigeneracional Avante-Guard, Working Ground, con la directora Hannah Dennison. Mirah también ha estudiado los bailes afro-caribeños de las Orixas durante treinta años, incluyendo con Yanique Hume.y es una profesora de yoga certificada a nivel nacional.
Rodrigo nació en la Ciudad de México y comenzó su entrenamiento en ballet clásico con Dagmar Kortum y en la Universidad Autónoma de México. Trabajo con el reconocido coreografo Gerardo Delgado como parte de En Dos Partes, de la Ciudad de México, incluyendo como finalista en el Premio Nacional de Danza INBA / UAM. Rodrigo estudió formalmente en Trisha Brown School (NYC), Merce Cunningham School (NYC) y Nikolais y Lois Dance Lab (NYC) con el apoyo del Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes. Es un terapeuta certificado de Shiatsu y graduado del programa de estudios avanzados en el Instituto de Acupresión de Berkeley con veinte años de experiencia en esta forma de terapia tradicional.
El trabajo de DANCE MONKS ha recibido al apoyo de Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (2016), Kenneth Rainin Foundation (2016), Zellerbach Family Foundation (2007 y 2016), East Bay Foundation for the Arts (2008-09), NOH Space (2008) y The Open Circle Foundation (2007, 2009, 2010, 2013).
RODRIGO ESTEVA RAMIREZ (Nuu Savi/Mexico), Co-Founding Director was born and raised in Mexico City, overlooking the volcanos of Popocatépetl and Iztaccihuatl of the Náhuatl peoples. Rodrigo is mestizo of indigenous Ñuu Savi (Mixteco), the people of the rain of Oaxaca, and European ancestry. As an experimental dance artist, he is dedicated to unblocking energy pathways through movement toward transformational and heightened states of being. Rodrigo Esteva holds an MFA in Dance (2023) from the University of the Arts (Philadelphia, PA) in conjunction with Centre Chorégraphique National (Montpellier, France). He began his training in classical Ballet with Dagmar Kortum and at UNAM Universidad Autonoma de Mexico (National University of Mexico). He performed with the renowned late Gerardo Delgado, founder of En Dos Partes (Mexico City), including as a finalist in INBA/UAM at Palacio de Bellas Artes. Rodrigo studied formally at the Trisha Brown School (NYC), The Merce Cunningham School (NYC), and Nikolais and Lois Dance Lab (NYC) with support from FONCA Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (National Endowment for the Arts in Mexico). He is a Certified Shiatsu Therapist and graduate of the advanced studies program at the Acupressure Institute of Berkeley with twenty years of experience in this form of traditional Eastern Medicine. He studied directly with renowned author and founder of the program, Michael Gach, as well as with Kaleo Ching, Sylvia Nachlinger, and Alice Hiatt. Rodrigo is a certified Acu-Yoga teacher, a practice that incorporates Yoga, Meditation, and Self-Acupressure. He has been the primary Shiatsu therapist at Levi Strauss's world headquarters (San Francisco) since 2014 and has offered hands-on healing at the Academy of Science, UCSF Hospital, and SF Children's Hospital, among many others. Rodrigo is also an avid gardener and long-distance runner, with practices grounded in the sacred knowledge of his indigenous ancestors.
MIRAH KELLC MORIARTY (Irish/Slavic), Co-Founding Director was raised in the green mountains of Vermont, lands of the Abénaki. Her mother is a fabric artist from a family of weavers of Slavic traveler heritage, and her father is a photographer who comes from stone workers of Éire (Ireland). As an interdisciplinary experimental dance artist, Mirah is devoted to listening to that which wishes to be spoken, the (at times hidden) stories and wisdom that are held deep in our bodies and in the land, or what the Irish call Tuiscint na Talún. Mirah holds a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Dance (2014) from Hollins University in conjunction with William Forsythe and HfMDK/MA Code in Frankfurt, Germany. She also studied visual art/ installation, costume design/construction, and dance formally as an undergraduate at the School for New Dance Development (SNDO/EDDC) Hogeschool voor de Kunsten of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Oberlin College (OH) and received her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Goddard College (VT) with a focus in Interdisciplinary Arts in Education. Her current research includes practices of animism and indigenous ways of knowing of Eurasia. Mirah holds a National certification in Yoga and has continued in-depth studies and training in the traditional dances of Cuban and Haitian Folklore over the last thirty years, including with her mentor Dr. Yanique Hume, a published scholar of the Lukumi Babalu Aye tradition. Mirah also trained as an elite-level gymnast, qualifying for the National Junior Olympic team (1990). She was the youngest member of the avant-garde multi-generational company of women, Cradle to Grave Arts/Working Ground, directed by Hannah Dennison. As a company, they created site-specific performances and studied with renowned postmodernists, including Simone Forti, Liz Lerman, Body-Mind Centering of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Somatics, and experiential anatomy based on Irene Dowd's Taking Root to Fly. Mirah also performed with Troupe Caravane, an adopted family member of the interdisciplinary art company based in Canada focused on the celebration of traditional Romani (traveler) culture.
SEBASTIAN KELLC ESTEVA (Latinx), Communications and PR Strategist was born in Mexico City and raised in the Bay Area and Mexico. Sebastian has performed in and assisted with DANCE MONKS' productions since 2003. As a current student at Stanford University with a focus on Communications and Biomechanical Engineering, he now brings a dynamic lens to his role as Communications Strategist. From starting a business when he was six years old to fund his own airplane ticket to visit his grandparents in Mexico, to a lifelong practice in martial arts, he brings a sense of discipline and commitment to everything he does. In addition to working with DM, he is currently a Marketing and Communications intern with Open to Debate, a consultant with SENSA Consulting at Stanford's entrepreneurship club, and a course coordinator for Mind Over Money, empowering underserved communities to flourish through accessible and relevant financial education. Sebastian also served as an intern on the Latinx/e engagement team for EveryTown for Gun Safety working with the country's leading gun violence prevention organization.