Meet the Team!
Sarah Joy Thompson EB Mota
Laura Yohualtlahuiz Stephan Gaeth
Laura Yohualtlahuiz Stephan Gaeth
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Stephan GaethStephan is honored and overjoyed to be a part of this venture and exciting partnership right here in San Antonio. With more than 20 years performance experience under his belt he's excited to bring his enthusiasm for the arts to his favorite city.
Once owner and operator of both The Uptown Studio and Wild Meadows Arts Collective, he's looking forward to this new space and new journey. A well rounded dancer, actor, yoga teacher, artist and poet Stephan brings a hope and creative force to SA that can only be summed up with his strongest asset LOVE. Join Stephan Gaeth right here at River Alchemy of Creative Arts (RACA) for ballet, burlesque, improv dance and theater and so much more! |
EB MOTAEric B. Mota (“EB”) is ecstatic to be among such a brilliant collective of artists right here in his old stompin' grounds of San Antone. With over 20 years of professional experience in the performing and visual arts – 15 years which were spent “living the dream” in NYC – he returned home to help build a vibrant creative community. A Broadway actor and proud member of Actors Equity Association, EB debuted in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2018) and toured nationally in 11 productions, including Fame (Joe Vegas), West Side Story (Chino), A Chorus Line (Paul), and Hair (Woof). He’s performed at legendary venues like Madison Square Garden, Grand Ole Opry, and San Antonio’s very own Majestic Theatre. EB was also honored to be part of the Public Theatre of San Antonio’s Inaugural Resident Company of Actors, earning an ATAC Globe Nomination for his role as Puck in the world premiere of Midsummer Sueno (a bilingual adaptation of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream). As a seasoned director and choreographer, his work in Tarzan and Mary Poppins earned Globe Awards for Best Choreography. He’s taught for over 20 years across disciplines including acting, voice, dance, audition technique, visual arts, and college prep—from beginner to professional level. EB has served as an Expert Teaching Artist for institutions like Basis Charter School, Stagedoor Manor, Woodlawn Theatre, Public Theatre, and more. He’s held leadership roles at the Las Casas Foundation and Eichelberger PAC and currently freelances as a Director/Choreographer in NISD’s award-winning Musical Theatre Department at Taft High School. |
His formal training includes a BFA in Musical Theatre with Pedagogical Emphasis from Sam Houston State University and advanced studies with Broadway Theatre Project, STEPS on Broadway, and others. Now, EB is embarking on a bold new journey as Co-owner of River Alchemy of Creative Arts, the future home of his new company #act2impact. For inquiries on lessons, bookings, or joining his creative ventures, reach out at [email protected]. |
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Sarah Joy ThompsonSarah is a Filipina-American poet and the author of a chapbook “The Everyday, the Mundane, and the Brave” (Finishing Line Press, 2019) and a full-length poetry collection “Driving into Black Mountains” (FlowerSong Press, 2020). In 2021 she co-edited “Boundless”, the official anthology of the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival. Her third poetry collection “Uprooted Orchid” is forthcoming from FlowerSong Press in the spring of 2025. Sarah Joy earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso. In her recent work, she explores poetry and movement to navigate the gray area of grief, loss, illness, and embodying change. The confessional aspects of her poetry often serve as an essential form of therapy. Sarah Joy finds that tough journeys turn her attention inward. She must learn to sit with this stillness no matter the level of discomfort. By leaning into the healing process, the body can find true rest and self-compassion. Join us for Sarah Joy Thompson's upcoming workshops in creative writing, journaling, and poetry of the body through movement. She eagerly anticipates sharing these enriching experiences and engaging in a vibrant exchange of creative energy at RACA. |
Laura Yohualtlahuiz
Laura Yohualtlahuiz is a 2 Spirit Mexican-born Xicana Matriarch of Tepehuan, Guachichil & mixed lineage, initiated by elders, family lineage & Traditional Keepers as Culture Bearer, Bgirl (breakdancer), Mexica-Chichimeca (Aztec) dancer & Yoga Nidra instructor. They are an anti-disciplinary artist whose artistic explorations include multimedia offerings, cultural organizing, and immersive performance art making that disrupts colonial narratives. Their work is an intervention to dominant narratives and braids narratives of collective liberation through storytelling workshops and community rituals. Their Afro-Indigenous futurist lens centers an artistic practice that transcends mediums and heals the collective soul wound. Laura Yohualtlahuiz’s vision as an artist is guided by the Zapatista movement’s definition of artists as “cultural warriors". Their interdisciplinary and performance based work is a testament of Indigenous art as a living legacy respectfully embracing Tradition while embodying liberation as the foundation of resistance and revolution. Celebrating Indigenous identity, documenting struggle, and proposing a world where the sacredness of our interconnectedness is the center of all our relations, expressions, and interventions is at the root of their art making pedagogy. |
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