Website

http://franciscograciano.com/

About

A native of south Texas, Francisco Graciano, holds an MFA from Florida State University. As a professional dancer in New York City he was a member of several esteemed companies and is a founding member of TAKE Dance Company and Dusan Tynek Dance Theater. Mr. Graciano was recognized by The New York Times as a “virtuoso star” during his time with the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 2004 to 2017. Dance Magazine also named him one of their "25 to Watch," praising him as a dancer with “a freshness that’s all his own.”

His choreography has been presented in the U.S. and internationally by various prestigious organizations including Theater in Quarantine,  Dance Lab New York, Battery Dance Festival, Austin Dance Festival, Provincetown Dance Festival, Nantucket Dance Festival, WestFest Dance Festival, and the 50th Annual Cervantino Festival. Notable collaborations include artists Jacob Jonas, Jordan Matter, Jen Mabus, and Robert Wilson. He has created solo works for principal dancers of the Martha Graham Dance Company and Paul Taylor Dance Company.

As a teaching artist he has been on faculty at Sam Houston State University, The Ballet Alliance, and the Taylor School. Additionally, Francisco serves as Program Coordinator and Social Media Manager for Dance on Camera Festival in New York. He is an Assistant Professor of Dance at New World School of the Arts and a licensed GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® trainer.

I discovered my passion for the GYROTONIC EXPANSION SYSTEM® in 2009 when I was a full-time dancer in New York City. I established a regular practice over the next decade and became a certified GYROKINESIS® trainer in 2019. In the latter years of my dancing career I was experiencing great physical pain from a couple of injuries that I’d been enduring. My dear friend and veteran GYROTONIC® Master Trainer, Miriam Barbosa, took me under her wing and together we trained deeper and more comprehensively to help ease my hip and back pain. She helped me find the decompression and freedom I needed in my joints in order to go beyond my limits. Less than six months later, I was dancing better than I ever had in my life at 39 years old! In my class I highlight experiencing the body’s blissful movement through the flow of a Gyrotonic/Gyrokinesis class. My position as an accomplished dance artist and my extensive knowledge as a practitioner of Feldenkrais Technique, The Franklin Method, Yoga and meditation makes what I bring to the room very unique. By using breath to guide our movement, I believe we can find clarity and peace from the inevitable anxieties of life. I believe alignment is mental and psychological as much as it is physical. Through my years of densely embodying this technique I always return to my day feeling more optimistic, grateful, and energized. As a trainer of this work, my goal is to share that experience with you every time we show up together.