Graciano Dance Projects

Graciano Dance Projects, LLC was established in 2020 in Austin, TX as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the displacement of artists all over the country. GDP’s mission is to give choreographer, Francisco Graciano, the opportunity to connect artists from all disciplines to create bold and innovative live performance that engages its community and challenges conventional notions of modern and contemporary dance.

Artist Statement

I’m an Impressionist artist. 

I respond to what is directly in front of me in the immediate moment. There is an urgency that comes with that much like an Impressionist painter who must match the colors on his palette and brush to the colors he sees reflected on the natural world. 

The natural world for me is the personality and culture dynamic I embody as a Mexican-American in the 21st Century. The vulnerability, humanity, and bravado of my late father who was a mariachi and who taught us to love where we came from. Reflecting on this intersectional identity always informs what moves out of me. The transformation of place, body, psychology, and time all have significant influences in our bodies. 

I listen to the voices coming through the bodies of those I’m creating with. My driving question is “What is it?” What is it about this space and these people together that makes it unique? Is there a way to choreographically represent that uniqueness? Then I begin with, “How can I help each voice feel its most empowered?” and “How do these voices contribute to the full orchestra of voices in the room?” The present moment holds all the creative impulses to make a work of art come alive. I live in the not-knowing and create work based on the forces driving us in the room. 

Sensation is the language of the body and I use movement to attempt to describe what the thinking mind cannot express or explore by pushing the body to its limits dynamically and thoughtfully. It is through this practice of challenging resistance and accepting discomfort that transformation of self can occur.

In my personal movement practice I feel the sensations that my psyche has on the body. I then allow those impulses to provide groundwork and clay for creating curated and meticulous choreographic work which project from the mind and body. As a dance artist, I use the moving body to interpret stories.

My lineage is clearly recognizable in my work but my voice is a unique tone separate from my dancestry.