ABOUT THE COMPANY
DANCE MONKS (SF/MX) was founded in 1999 by Rodrigo Esteva Ramirez and Mirah Kellc Moriarty while living in the mountains of Rodrigo’s homeland of Mexico. The organization is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, on Xučyun Ohlone lands, and in Estancia de Canal, Mexico, on the lands of the ñäñho (Otomi). They are also the founders of La Milpa: Refugio de Arte, opening its doors in 2026. DANCE MONKS is fiscally sponsored by Dancers’ Group, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, USA.
DANCE MONKS creates interdisciplinary, experimental performances and workshops—including dance, story, multimedia installations, and site-specific projects—as a transformative practice. They view art-making as a potent medium to explore the intimate and ancient relationship between body and place, rekindle our connection with the mythic, and mend the stories held in our bodies and the land. As a bi-cultural (Mexico/US) company working on both sides of the border, they cultivate spaces for what wishes to be spoken and build international bridges through community-responsive listening and creative exchange in response to the social, cultural, and environmental needs of these times. DANCE MONKS creates partnerships with individuals, families, and communities as foundational to their process, curating spaces, workshops, gatherings, and festivals in service of voices that have not traditionally been heard.
DANCE MONKS often collaborates with artists and change-makers whose works move through the seen and unseen worlds or states of wonder. Their works ask essential questions about cultural displacement and amnesia while embracing the arts' ability to restore soul memory. In times of forced or voluntary migration, what happens to the old stories and traditions that bond people with the land? How can we, as artists, create fertile ground for this wisdom to continue to grow for future generations?
Rodrigo and Mirah have taught and performed internationally for over 30 years as a duet and in collaboration with world-renowned companies, including as members of the physically integrated AXIS Dance Company (2007–2008, Oakland), Pearson Widrig Dance Theater (1994–2001, New York City), Apostalia Papadamaki (1993–1996, Greece), and Gerardo Delgado (1992, Mexico City). Their work has been presented at major festivals, universities, and venues throughout the United States and Mexico, as well as in Canada, Peru, and Europe. Notable engagements include The Joyce Theater (NY), The Kennedy Center (DC), Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival (NY), Bates Dance Festival (ME), Middlebury College (VT), CounterPULSE (San Francisco), PS122 (NYC), Dance Theater Workshop (NYC), Central Park SummerStage (NY), Symphony Space (NY), Flynn Center for the Performing Arts (VT), San Francisco International Arts Festival (CA), Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts (AZ), Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (FL), SNDO / European Dance Development Center (Amsterdam), Bard College (NY), University of Veracruz in Xalapa (Mexico), ODC (San Francisco), Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico City), and FAEL – Festival de Artes Escénicas (Lima), among many others. In addition, they have taught extensively in K–12 public and private schools and community programs in both Mexico and the United States, including founding Nature and Arts, an award-winning environmental education through the arts program for elementary-aged students.
AWARDS:
DANCE MONKS’ original works have received awards, commissions, and financial support from the NOVO Foundation (2024, 2025); the Berkeley Civic Arts Grant (2018–2019, 2021, 2022); the San Francisco Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers (FLACC) (2020); BulbFest (2019); D.I.R.T. Festival (2017); the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (2016); the Kenneth Rainin Foundation (2016); the Zellerbach Family Foundation (2007, 2016); FAEL – Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas, Peru (2012); the East Bay Foundation for the Arts (2008–2009); NOH Space (2008); and The Open Circle Foundation (2007, 2009, 2010, 2013), as well as additional sponsors and individual donors. Community and in-kind support has been generously provided by StoryCenter, The Ecology Center of Berkeley, Ávalos Farm, The Golden Rule Organic Farm, and Hijas del Campo.
OFFICIAL FILM SELECTIONS:
DANCE MONKS' short film, Fire in the Mountain, was officially selected for presentation at ODC State of Play Festival (San Francisco, CA); Bernal Heights Film Festival (San Francisco, CA); the 7th Annual Festival of Latin American Choreographers (FLACC) (San Francisco, CA); The Milk Bar (Oakland, CA); and Essence of Embodiment (New York City, NY).
View the Directors' complete curriculums here or download their CVs.
RODRIGO ESTEVA RAMIREZ
MFA Dance, University of the Arts (PA)
Rodrigo Esteva Ramirez 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 (Catalonia and Italian) 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) where he received the Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence. 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
MFA Dance, Hollins University (VA)
BA Interdisciplinary Arts, Goddard College (VT)
SNDO/ School for New Dance Development (Amsterdam)
Mirah Moriarty was raised in the green mountains of Vermont, land of the Abénaki. Her mother is a fabric artist from a family of weavers of Slavic traveler heritage (cigán), and her father is a photographer who comes from stone workers of Ireland (bhunadh na heireann). 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 indigenx ways of knowing of Europe. 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 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 as an adopted family member of the interdisciplinary art company based in Canada focused on the celebration of traditional Romani (traveler people).
SEBASTIAN KELLC ESTEVA
BA BioMechanical Engineering and MA Communications, Stanford University (2026)
Sebastian Esteva 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 Stanford University student focusing on Communications and Biomechanical Engineering, he brings a dynamic lens to his role as Communications Strategist. From starting a business when he was six years old to fund his 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 DANCE MONKS, he has worked as a Marketing and Communications intern with Open to Debate, as 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 interned on the Latinx/e engagement team for EveryTown for Gun Safety, working with the country's leading gun violence prevention organization.