
John Rafael Maria Gutierrez is a multidisciplinary actor, mover, and maker who has performed on screen and stages across 30 cities, 20 countries, 12 states, and 4 continents.
John was raised in a hood commonly known as “Little Dominican Republic,” aka Washington Heights, and has spent most of their life on Lenape land. As a first generation Dominicanx-Americanx and the first person in their family born in the US, John is carving out and balancing their own identity within his family, cultural hxstory, and artistic expression.
Since finishing their BFA (theater/drama) at NYU Tisch’s Experimental Theater Wing, John has ventured into various worlds of performance all over the world - working with directors and choreographers such as Big Dance Theater, Miguel Gutierrez, Full Circle Souljahs, The Ridiculous Theater Company, Pilobolus, Andrew Schneider, Raja feather Kelly, MOTUS of Italy, Ivica Buljan of Croatia, Allyson Green, Jesse Phillips-Fein, Martha Tornay, Jeanette Stoner, Culture Hub NYC, and many more, performing in venues all over the East Coast and Europe such as BAM, The Kennedy Center, La Mama, Dixon Place, Danspace, Dance Place DC, BAX, and many more. John is a proud member of the legendary Great Jones Rep Company of La Mama
John’s personal work combines theater, movement, and original music ranging from artistic expressions based in everything from hip hop to postmodern dance and has had their works presented at The Rubin Museum, Dixon Place, Gibney Dance Center, Judson Church, BAAD!, and La Mama, and New York Live Arts. His work, typically collaborative based, often deals with current and historical interpersonal and systemic sociopolitical issues.
Recent credits. 1001, AV Rockwell, Focus Features/Warner Bros., Law & Order: SVU, Norberto Barba, NBC Universal, King Lear In The Forest, Center at West Park (presented as part of g^2 Spring 2021 Residency), New York Live Arts (2021 Fresh Tracks Artist), La Mama ETC. (2020 Artist In Residence)