Meet Eva Or Adolfo Arteaga | Co Founders of Danza Azteca Xochipilli / Xochipilli Made with Love

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eva Or Adolfo Arteaga and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eva or Adolfo, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Our driving focus for starting our own business was our growing family. The biggest push to become entrepreneurs was the ability to be present with our children 24/7, but also, the realities of the economy and racism in the workforce made finding work incredibly difficult. Immigrating from Mexico presented many challenges, and education was a big one. Eva was accepted to university but was unable to attend due to her citizenship status. It was one of the many ways in which we felt excluded from succeeding in this society. When starting our business, we turned to our culture and traditions, it’s what we knew how to do and it seemed to be a path our ancestors opened for us. This path has allowed us the luxury of being with our family 24/7, traveling across California and the US, and allowing us to share our culture and traditions with different communities. Our business is more than a business; it is an indigenous lifestyle, a piece of the way our ancestors used to live. It has been a gift that has also allowed us to dive into our indigenous culture headfirst and never look back. Our business has allowed us to open our Indigenous circle, Danza Azteca Xochipilli, located in East Los Angeles. We have had the privilege of cultivating our circle for 30 years, sharing our culture through free dance classes twice a week. Danza Azteca Xochipilli has been our prayer and offering to our community.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We, Adolfo and Eva Arteaga, decided to start Danza Azteca Xochipilli, our indigenous circle, as a way to give back to our community. We noticed in our youth how impactful it was for them to connect to their roots. When our circle first started, it became a safe space for youth to dedicate their time to and we saw that it was driving them away from drugs and gang activity. Now, about 30 years later, it has become a family affair among our students. It is no longer the brave youth, but also their parents and siblings who are joining and making up our circle. Danza keeps families together; that’s another reason we decided to start our indigenous cirlce. Through our family, we can see the positive impact our culture and spirituality have in bringing families together and strengthening the familial bond.
The passion we carry for our traditions could not be contained to only our family. We felt called to share this spirituality with our community, and we believe that this is what sets us apart. We are excited and honored to see that we have made a difference in people’s lives by just sharing our traditions. It has not been easy, and times have changed for the better, but we faced racism for being indigenous. It was hard on our entire family; it made us feel like outcasts, but we knew we were on a sacred path and could not give up.
Our art is deeply rooted in indigenous culture, family, and a special focus on the youth of today. We are a family that is dedicated to honoring our ancestors and sharing that knowledge with our community. We are extremely proud of our children who continue to uphold our indigenous lifestyle and have found their individuality in it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Monday/Wednesday, we would take them to get breakfast at the local cafe, BLVD Cafe in East Los Angeles, coffee at a family-owned business named Iyalli Coffee, and in the evening, take them to Folklorico practice with the group Danza Teocatl.
Tuesday/ Thursday, we would take them to either King Taco or El Mercadito for breakfast, and in the evening, take them to our indigenous dance circle to share prayer with them.
Friday/ Saturday/ Sunday, would be filled with a Ceremony or Pow wow! It is always special for us to be able to take our loved ones to ceremonies and Native American pow wows and immerse them in the indigenous culture!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Three dance instructors who have inspired who we are and changed the course of our lives are Miguel Angel Diaz (may he rest in peace), Esteban Coronado, and Lazaro Arvizu. Miguel Angel Diaz and Esteban Coronado are folklorico instructors and dancers. Their passion and drive to preserve the Mexican culture were truly inspiring. My wife and I met through Miguel Angel Diaz; we would not be where we are if it weren’t for him and his teachings. Lazaro Arvizu is the leader of a circle, Xipe Totec, which is one of the first circles in the US. He learned from Florencio Yescas, the pioneer in Mexica dance/ culture; Yescas was the man who brought Mexica dance to the US back in the 70’s. Arvizu is where we learned our first foundations of the Mexica culture. These three instructors are local legends, and we are honored to have met and been inspired by them.

Website: http://SCFTA.org/DanzaAztecaXochipilli

Instagram: @danza.aztecaxochipilli, @xochipillimadewithlove

Facebook: Danza Azteca Xochipilli

Youtube: https://youtube.com/shorts/s_Ff99fe8ZM?si=LkBXWjirYDvbxX2G

Image Credits
@ojodecipactli @la_huitziloca