director - educator - choreographer - performer
Gabriel Mata
pronounced: gah-bryehl mah-tah

Gabriel Mata
is a Mexican American movement artist, choreographer, and educator based in Washington DC.
Director of the Latinx Movement Festival DC
Mata teaches contemporary sabor and performs motion memoirs. Two forms of movement that prioritize and uplift his cultural identities of Mexican, immigrant, queer, and bi-nationality. His research on brownness is developed through his work with Dr. Manuel Cuellar.
Mata’s dance works have been performed in California, New York, Minnesota, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington DC, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Additionally, his work has been presented at Stanford University, San José State University, Georgian Court University, Howard Community College, and American University. His dances have been commissioned by David Herrera Performance Company, the Queer Mvmnt Festival, Dance Loft on 14, sjDANCEco, Charlotte Dance Festival, the Minnesota Fringe Festival, the Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers, Silicon Valley Pride, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and Manuel Cuellar/Corazón Folklórico DC.
Mata was awarded the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Research grant, the Washington Award by S&R Evermay, and nominated for the Sol Azteca Award for his dance work in the DC metropolitan area. Additionally, he has been awarded the Amplify Grant, DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities Fellowship Grant, DCCAH Performance, Events, and Festival Grant, the Social Justice Artist Commission at Dance Loft on 14th, the Atlas Arts Lab Recipient, and the Kennedy Center REACH Campus Office Hours Residency.