Introducing: Gabriel “MoFundamentals” Gutierrez

It is difficult for Gabriel “MoFundamentals” Gutierrez to share his foster journey. Not because it is tragic, but because it is hard to find people who will listen. 

“Often, as soon as you mention foster care and adoption, the dominant narrative in dance and media pieces are always focused on the helplessness or trauma stories,” Gutierrez said. “For me, I thought, how can I create something that is more grounded in my reality? How can I begin to speak about where I am in my journey?”

His efforts to share his story have coalesced into “UARHÁN I II III (Dance 1 2 3).” This weekend, Highways Performance Space will present this dance performance that merges Gutierrez’s foster-adoptee story of resilience with P’urhépecha preservation. Through the work, he will reconnect with P’urhépecha, an Indigenous group of people from Michoacán, culture, contextualize it with his life in the U.S. (what he calls his P’urhePOCHO experience — being Purhepecha, Mexican American in the US) as a foster-adoptee. In three dances, he merges P'urhépecha language, culture and dance with street dance styles like house, breaking and hip hop. 

In the first dance, he makes a direct connection between P'urhépecha dance and house dance. Difficulty arrived as he tried to match the P'urhépecha music time signature with house rhythms. He started by sampling the sounds of P'urhépecha rituals.

“A lot of what I have been able to find is thanks to the P'urhépecha elder, hearing about different P'urhépecha dance troupes that are out there, that are teaching some of the dances straight from Michoacán, straight to the communities.” 

While trying to achieve the original tempo of house music while sampling P'urhépecha sounds over it, he recognized some hiccups. After listening to different P'urhépecha songs a few times over, he recognized a rhythmic transition that interrupted the merging of genres. Since learning to navigate the two styles, “it’s been beautiful to build it out,” he said. “It’s like house, a little bit of jazz, and a little bit of hip hop helping the flute loops come to life.” 

The second dance documents Gutierrez’s reconnection journey to his P'urhépecha roots. He’s been on the journey for the past 20 years, finding support from elders he met along the way. He has become comfortable in his reconnection journey. It looks different for each person, and he portrays that in the form of breaking dance movements and P'urhépecha rapping.

“I feel like this can serve as a bridge to this culture and make it appealing for, not just myself, but also other P'urhépecha community members who are desiring to reconnect.” 

He weaves in testimonials about the foster care system. The show currently opens with a video showing his adoption files. It took three years to get his paperwork. Often, people never get access to their adoption files, so to have it be part of the work was monumental for Gutierrez. He wants to show how difficult it can be for foster kids to access their ancestry, only to learn how dry the content can be, boiling parental figures into numbers and statistics. 

“I transformed some of that process into an animated film that speaks to some of the bureaucracy, some of that tension and struggle and fight,” he said. “I will overcome and make sure that I understand the bureaucracy so that others don’t have to go through it.” 

The final dance concludes the show with a celebration that draws from a P'urhépecha ritual called the “baile de las moscas,” an homage to the fly. It’s one of the first dances people learn in P'urhépecha culture. The dance is about understanding and respecting the balance in the ecosystem, from a small fly to a large human. For Gutierrez, it is like a freestyle dance that mimics the fly. 

“The concept of the dance piece is about how we can bring forward child-like play and connection to the audience,” he said. 

What better way to do it than with a soul train-style fly dance? 

“I wanted to be intentional about making sure that audiences who are there know if they need to shake something out if they’re holding onto tension, even if it’s just from consuming all the news about the fires, that there’s that interactive moment for us to collectively reset.” 

This Week’s Top Spots

‘The Great Yes, The Great No’ @ The Wallis

In this slightly historical tale, artists and intellectuals — including surrealist André Breton, anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, Cuban painter Wifredo Lam, Communist novelist Victor Serge and exiled German author Anna Seghers — flee from Vichy France in 1941. However, the journey is not what you expect. There’s augmented reality, fiction and a profound allegory about all the forced expeditions of the past and present. This work conceived by William Kentridge, in collaboration with award-winning theater maker Phala Ookeditse Phala and choral conductor/dancer Nhlanhla Mahlangu, weaves theater performance, Greek choral traditions and a chamber opera. 

LOCATION: 9390 N Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210 
DATES: February 5 - 8
TIME: 7:30 pm Wednesday thru Saturday, 2 pm Saturday
PRICE: $75.90 - $97.90
LINK: https://thewallis.org/show-details/the-great-yes-the-great-no

Kaufman Converge @ USC Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center

USC Kaufman’s series Kaufman Converge returns with dance artists Teresa “Toogie” Barcelo and Rauf “Rubberlegz” Yasit. This event is part performance, part salon and part lecture demonstration. Toogie, a movement artist who specializes in classical and street techniques, will merge her approach to dance with Rubberlegz, a self-taught b-boy known for his ability to contort his body. This Kaufman Converge curated by USC Kaufman dance lecturer Amy O’Neal will open the floor for the two movers’ artistry to merge right before your eyes. 

LOCATION: 849 W 34th St., Los Angeles, CA 90089
DATE: February 4
TIME: 7 pm 
PRICE: Free 
LINK: https://visionsandvoices.usc.edu/events/46678542229542 

‘Evanston Salt Costs Climbing’ @ The Matrix Theatre

The winter is brewing up a storm in Evanston, IL, and salt truck drivers Peter and Basil are trying to keep up. As salt costs climb, their boss seeks a new green technology that could make their job obsolete. This play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Will Arbery uses humor and the marvelous fascinations of the every day to address climate and change. The Rogue Machine’s L.A. production brings together a robust cast — Hugo Armstrong, Lesley Fera, Kaia Gerber, Michael Redfield — for a show that is everything but mundane. 

LOCATION: 7657 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046
DATES: January 31 - March 9 
PRICE: $25 - $60 
LINK: https://www.roguemachinetheatre.org/evanston 

‘Lenz Geerk: Schwarzweiß’ @ Roberts Projects

German painter Lenz Geerk has a new exhibition of black-and-white paintings at Roberts Projects. Titled after the German word for “black-and-white,” “Schwarzweiß” challenges our perceptions physically and metaphorically. The works are painted on paper, making them easy to perceive as sketches. The content — the relationships between people and themselves — is thought-provoking and presents a moment of uncertainty. Geerk, known for depicting the alienation of contemporary life, presents a haunting show. 

LOCATION: 442 S La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036
DATES: January 25 - March 8
TIME: On view 11 am - 6 pm Tuesday thru Saturday
PRICE: Free 
LINK: https://www.robertsprojectsla.com/exhibitions/lenz-geerk6

‘Memoryhouse’ @ The Wallis

Last week, I highlighted a behind-the-scenes event for “Memoryhouse,” an evening-length work by LA Ballet’s artistic director, Melissa Barak. Set to the music of Max Richter, this abstract work captures literal and metaphorical vignettes of World War II and the Holocaust. I saw the world premiere in 2023 and still think about it today. It’s haunting and packed with poignant imagery that creeps up when you least expect it. 

LOCATION: 9390 N Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210
DATES: January 30 - February 1
TIME: 7:30 pm Thursday thru Saturday, 2 pm Sat. 
PRICE: $97.90 - $119.90
LINK: https://thewallis.org/show-details/memoryhouse 

Things: In Response

The brunt of the fires may be over, but now we are in the aftermath. Here are a few ways arts organizations are offering space to heal and give back. 

• Beyond the Streets presents Art Bazaar in partnership with TLALOC Studios: This weekend-long art market fosters community for art enthusiasts. The event is free to attend and a portion of gift shop sales will go to fire relief efforts. DATE: February 1 - 2 @ 11 am - 5 pm / PRICE: Free / LINK: https://beyondthestreets.com/blogs/articles/beyond-the-streets-presents-art-bazaar-in-partnership-with-tlaloc-studios 

• BODYTRAFFIC Open Community Class: BODYTRAFFIC will offer free community dance classes to bring people together to move and heal. DATE: February 5 & 12 / PRICE: Free / LINK: https://bodytraffic.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/neonevents/events?path=%2Fportal%2Fevents%2F12921 

• ‘The Wave: A Benefit for LA Wildfires’ @ Anat Ebgi: This benefit exhibition features 15 LA artists to support Alec Egan, an artist whose exhibition with Anat Ebgi was canceled after his work and home burned in the fire, and many other artists affected by the wildfires. 10% of the gallery’s proceeds will be donated to the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund. DATE: February 8 - March 22 / PRICE: Free / LINK: https://anatebgi.com/exhibitions/the-wave/ 

Keep Reading

If you haven’t already, check out my latest stories here: 

• Faustin Linyekula pulls at the loose threads of his ancestry (LA Dance Chronicle)

• Alejandro Perez and Gretchen Ackerman create an “Oasis” at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble (LA Dance Chronicle)

Meme of the Week