MoFundamentals - UARHÁN I II III (Dance 1 2 3)

UARHÁN I II III (Dance 1 2 3) elevates narratives of foster-adoptee resilience and p’urhépecha preservation through three sections in an evening-length work. It calls for generational P’urépecha (indigenous to Michoacan, MX) healing from Gabriel "MoFundamentals" Gutierrez's P’urhePOCHO (Purhepecha, Mexican American in the US) and foster-adoptee experience. The performance will weave P'urhépecha language, culture and dance with street dance styles (house, breaking, and hip hop).

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UARHÁN I. will seamlessly visibilize finding home in P'urhépecha culture and house dance while inviting audiences into collective foster care navigation.

UARHÁN II.  will be an ode to connecting sïrrukuas (families) from the U.S. to Michoacan, MX retracing or preserving p’urhepecha traditions. This section weaves hip hop and breaking dance movement with p’urhé traditions like el “Baile del Sol Viejito”.

UARHÁN III. will play with caña and tsirixeni (fern) elements fusing sugar cane dance rituals over house dance rhythms while speaking to the need for reviving communal fern rituals within foster-adoptee, street dance, and P’urhépecha communities. _

Originally from Chicago, Gabriel Gutierrez is an adult adoptee, first generation, street dancer, founder of MoFundamentals, and P'urhépecha artivist dedicated to highlighting the resiliency of foster-adoptee artists. His work centers on elevating narratives and lived experience of artists and culture bearers in Los Angeles who belong to: street dance, houseless, former foster, adoptee, and P’urhépecha communities. His contributions at the intersection of hip hop, education, and foster care advocacy have led to invitations to train at intensives hosted by Rennie Harris, being an ACTIVATE Cultural Policy Fellow to represent Los Angeles City District 1, piloting reentry through performing arts programs funded by the California Arts Council, being a 2022 DanceUSA Fellow to create the first foster-adoptee dance collective in the United States, and becoming a 2024 MAP Grant recipient.

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