Francisco Gella
Choreography Credits
Francisco has choreographed for Pennsylvania Ballet’s Shut-Up and Dance production, PHILADANCO’s Danco on Danco program; Danco/II; Ballet East; Tucson Regional Ballet; Reflections Dance Company; California Ballet; Ballet Pacifica; the University of Utah Ballet Ensemble; South Bay Ballet; Luminario Ballet; the Orange County High School for the Arts; Los Angeles Ballet Academy; the University of Washington Dance Program and for the prestigious Laguna Dance Festival. His work for South Bay Ballet entitled Configured Echoes garnered the Best Choreography Award at the National Regional Dance America Conference. His Tango en Pointe solo was performed for the Presidential Scholar’s Gala held at the Kennedy Center.
He has been a finalist multiple times for the McCallum Theater’s Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival in the professional and pre-professional divisions, and in 2013 won the Grand Prize. He has also created numerous award-winning contemporary ensembles and solos for Youth America Grand Prix competitors. Francisco has been awarded the title of ‘Outstanding Choreographer’ at the Youth America Grand Prix semi-finals in Los Angeles in 2011 and in San Diego in 2012; has also been a featured choreographer for RAWArtists.org; and was the assistant choreographer of Patricia Zhou’s solo featured on a segment in the hit TV show “Dancing with the Stars.” In 2013, Francisco founded the COLABO Youth Dance Collective. COLABO made its official debut in Jamie Nichol’s Celebrate Dance in Glendale, California where Francisco’s “Concentric Harmonies” also premiered to rave reviews. More recently in August 2013, Francisco created a ten-minute ballet that premiered at Utah’s Dancing Under The Stars Festival where he also came out of retirement to perform.
In October 2014, Francisco premiered a fifteen-minute contemporary ballet for Arizona’s Phoenix Ballet in front of an international audience at the Beijing Ballet Invitational opening gala event. Most recently, Francisco’s new Modern Dance work ‘Collage’, created for the Irvine Valley College Performing Dance Ensemble, premiered at the department’s annual fall concert featuring the choreography of faculty and special guest artists. In April 2015, Francisco will be Artist-in-Residence with the Repertory Dance Theatre of Salt Lake City.