L. Graciella Maiolatesi

L. Graciella Maiolatesi (pronouns she/her) is a Queer-Black-Femme multidisciplinary-artist, educator, and scholar, currently receiving her M.F.A in Dance from Temple University. She is the Artistic Director of Femme Noire Movement Collective (FNMC), which is currently based in Philadelphia, PA. FNMC works to create intersectional movement investigations that liberate and witness Black-Femme bodies, spaces, and modes of being. Maiolatesi’s creative process works to curate space in which Black narratives can be birthed, breathed, and celebrated. She is excited to be joining the tD family and aims to use this platform to continue to carve space for Black, Femme, and/or Queer movement artists.

She has worked with    Leah Stein, Jumatatu M. Poe, Kariamu Welsh, S. Ama Wray, Bebe Miller, Awilda Sterling Dupree, Lela Aisha Jones, Sanchel Brown, Shanel Edwards, dance mentor Stafford C. Berry Jr., and more. Maiolatesi has presented works in Philadelphia (FringeArts Scratch Night) and Chicago (La Femme Dance Festival). She is a member of The Coalition of Diasporan Scholars Moving (CDSM), and a recurring participant of the Urban Bush Women Summer Leadership Institute: You, Me, We: Understanding Internalized Racial Oppression and How it Manifests in Our Artistic Community, in collaboration with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. She is certified as an Embodiology Level 1 Practitioner, and as a M’Singha Wuti Instructor of the Umfundalai technique. She currently resides in North Philadelphia with her four plants (Phil & Lil, Stevie, and Yaa Asantewaa), and enjoys drinking lavender chamomile tea with honey while reading in her mustard-yellow wingback chair.

Contact:

Email: l.gracielladance@gmail.com

IG: @_femme_noire_movement