About
Moriviví
Moriviví (I died, I lived) is a wild-weed plant that lives in the Caribbean region and that when touched, closes its leaves. The plant is in constant movement throughout the day and will sting anyone who lays, stand or hold them long enough.
MISSION
Moriviví Theatre’s mission is to foster and maintain a space of empowerment, education, and transformation for communities and artists alike. Through the exploration of complex Latine identities, we seek to share, uplift and celebrate our artistry, history and cultures.
Vision
All Latine communities feel inspired and empowered to celebrate, uplift and share our experiences as part of an equitable and anti-racist American society while welcoming non-Latine communities to witness our stories.
Yasmin Ruvalcaba (Co-Artistic Director) is a Portland-based director, writer, consultant, and arts advocate. She centers her work around advancing equity, honoring mentorship and education, and promoting community outreach and engagement. Yasmin is currently working at Advance Gender Equity in the Arts (AGE) as the Grants Program Director; and is a consultant with Centro Cultural and Washington County Kids. Her time is also spent working with Portland Center Stage and Hand2Mouth as a teaching artist. Previously, Yasmin has worked with Bag&Baggage as the Problem Play Project Manager, which focused on new play development and community outreach.
Yasmin has also engaged with her community through theatre. She’s had the opportunity to be an assistant director at Artist Repertory Theatre and Bag&Baggage Productions. Yasmin is also an active writer in the community. Two of her monologues, Carmelita and Ruega Por Mi, were featured in Theatre Diaspora’s Here on This Bridge: The -ism Project. Her time is also spent working with Portland Center Stage and Hand2Mouth as a teaching artist. She is also honored to be a co-founding member of Moriviví Theatre.
Michael Cavazos (Co-Artistic Director) is a Queer Chicano theatre maker and visual artist. Before moving to Portland Oregon, he was a member of the sketch comedy troupe Gender Offenders and performed on many New York City stages, including the Beechman Theatre, Cherry Lane Theatre, The Culture Project, and P.S.122. He is also a company member with Hand2Mouth. His collaborative digital project Distancias was featured in Hand2Mouth’s 2020-2021 season, in the 2021 Risk/Reward Festival of New Performances and in Latino Theater Co.’s RE:Encuentro 2021 Theater Festival. He has worked with Imago, Milagro, Crave, Profile, Portland Center Stage and The Portland Revels. His video work called “de los cadáveres crecen flores/from the corpses flowers grow,” was commissioned by Portland Playhouse for their production Joy (Comes) in the Mourning. He is currently co-developing a new work called Home/Land with Hand2Mouth and France’s Begat Theatre. A teaching artist, Michael recently taught in Cairo, Egypt and Belgrade, Serbia. His visual art was selected as part of Portland’s Regional Arts and Culture Council’s new public art collection: “Capturing the Moment.” Michael is one of five Oregon performing artists to receive the 2021 Oregon Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship for artists of outstanding talent, demonstrated ability and commitment to the creation of new work.
Our Team
Giovanni Alva (Founding Member, Teaching artist) is a theatre artist who likes to tell stories and help others tell theirs. He holds a BA in theatre arts from Humboldt State University and has worked in Portland at Milagro, Portland Playhouse, Action/ Adventure, CoHo, Roosevelt High School, The Reformers and Hand2Mouth. Geo also teaches internationally, most recently in Namibia in Southern Africa with upcoming dates in Peru and Ethiopia.
Robi Arce (Founding Member, Teaching Artist) is a Puerto Rican director, actor, educator, and mask-maker who has performed, toured, and led workshops in México, Venezuela, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and the United States. He describes his diverse body of work as being created through a fusion of styles influenced by magical realism, surrealism, and poetry and fueled by social justice and change. For the past few years, he has focused his teaching artist practice on facilitating and supporting youth from underrepresented communities in telling their own stories through various media in the Portland Metro area. Robi holds an MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre from Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre and a BA in Drama from the University of Puerto Rico.
He has professional acting and directing credits with Teatro del Sesenta (Puerto Rico), Y no había luz (PR), Circo Nacional de Puerto Rico (PR), Escena Latina (PR), Lucky Productions (PR), The Dell’Arte Company (Blue Lake, CA), Humboldt State Theatre Department (Arcata, CA), and in Portland with Oregon Children’s Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Milagro Theatre, and Hand2Mouth Theatre.
Robi has also taught theatre at the Colegio Bautista de Caguas in Caguas, Puerto Rico. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Movement/Acting at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.