Our Team
Moving Roots is made up of a tam of professionals whose work converges in art, the body and community.This is not about a unified identity, but rather a shsred practice that unfolds both in Guatemala and in California. Each person bring their own trajectory and sensibility, and what brings their collaboration together is the conviction that cultural change is built through creative, local and participatory processes. This team acts as the founding core of an organization in formation, dedicated to program design, community engagement, and the development of long-term artistic projects.
Maria
Aguilar
Barry
Goldwasser
Tania
Montenegro
María Aguilar is a therapist and educator of somatic movement of the Body Mind Movement, with complementary studies in somatic approaches in different movement and touch practices.
She is certified in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy, which allows her to support people through sessions and classes sensitive to the processes of the body, the nervous system, and trauma.
In her practice, she integrates knowledge of Music Therapy and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
She is a sociologist, dancer, movement researcher, artist, and holds a master’s degree in education specialized in artistic and movement education.
Barry Goldwasser is the founder of Rooted Coaching and director of Moving Roots Foundation.
Born in Guatemala, his work integrates movement, creative practice, and collective learning, supporting individuals and communities in reconnecting with the body as a source of awareness, expression, and connection.
He trained in Europe in the pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq, specializing in physical theater — an approach that understands the body as a primary language for perception and creativity. His practice is also informed by intercultural experiences across Latin America and North America, as well as by encounters with Indigenous Mayan perspectives rooted in relationships with community and nature.
Barry has facilitated workshops with artists, students, and diverse communities in educational, cultural, and community contexts. He has developed an approach that combines embodied awareness, creative exploration, and relational processes, adaptable to different groups and environments.
Tania Montenegro is an anthropologist, naturopath, creative facilitator, and multidisciplinary practitioner working at the intersection of art, community, and holistic well-being.
Her work is rooted in years of experience in social research, community-based projects, and educational initiatives across Guatemala. She has collaborated with organizations focused on gender, historical memory, and social justice, developing methodologies, facilitating workshops, and supporting community processes.
Alongside her research background, Tania is a co-founder of Casa Caléndula and Caléndula Café, where she integrates her passion for conscious cooking, creativity, and community building. She is also an illustrator, content creator, and plant enthusiast, bringing together artistic expression and natural living.
Her practice weaves together art, somatic awareness, education, and herbal knowledge to create accessible and meaningful experiences that invite people to reconnect with their bodies, their creativity, and the natural world.
Kapok
Center for Somatic Education, Research-Creation, and Therapy.
Kapok is a school dedicated to somatic education, integrating knowledge from different disciplines, techniques, and somatic methods.
Its purpose is to facilitate experiences and learning for people who wish to improve their relationship with their bodies, with nature, with others, and with the Earth.
Music therapy and ancestral healing traditions are an essential part of the educational processes.
Rooted Coaching
Rooted Coaching is a body-based creative practice that supports people in exploring their experience through movement, breath, and attention, allowing it to develop into forms of expression.
It is designed for individuals, groups, and organizations — including artists, people in moments of transition, and communities interested in working through the body.
The work engages what is present, inviting participants to approach sensations, emotions, and personal history with curiosity and openness.
Within this process, there is space to observe, experiment, and discover new ways of relating and responding.
Over time, what emerges can gain clarity, direction, or take shape as a creative or performative form.
Each process adapts to the person or context. It may remain personal or evolve into something that can be shared.
Rooted Coaching takes place through individual sessions, workshops, and collaborative processes within organizational and community settings.
Within Moving Roots, this work supports connection, expression, and collective development grounded in lived experience.
Leaf Tales
A multidisciplinary space where food, plants, culture, and the body are explored as interconnected forms of knowledge.
Leaf Tales is a multidisciplinary initiative that brings together anthropological perspectives, artistic practice, nourishment, and natural approaches to well-being as part of a shared process of exploration and transformation.
At its core, the project reflects on how what we eat and how we relate to plants is shaped by culture, memory, and environment — and how these relationships influence the body, perception, and the ways we inhabit the world.
Through both digital and in-person spaces, Leaf Tales creates environments for observation, experience, and connection. Here, creativity, health, and natural awareness are not approached as separate areas, but as dimensions that inform and support one another.
The project unfolds through accessible and conscious practices that invite participants to engage with what they consume, create, and embody — fostering a deeper connection between personal experience, collective knowledge, and the natural systems we are part of.