Life & Work with Trinity Gracia of Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Trinity Gracia.

Hi Trinity, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started dancing about 12 years ago when I began going to a performing arts school called Arizona Conservatory for Arts and Academics. I didn’t originally go there for dance but all of the other arts classes I wanted to be in were full so they put me in Ballet and I immediately fell in love with dancing. I then continued on to get my BFA in Dance from GCU and that was where I fell in love with choreographing and the world of concert dance. While I was at GCU I choreographed at least one piece for every student choreography showcase we had and in my Senior year I submitted two pieces a semester. These included both live pieces and films. A lot of the pieces I had created while at GCU I made so they had a similar theming and story line and could be turned into one big evening length show. Once I graduated my best friend and now Assistant Director Rayshawn Watkins convinced me to create and produce this show, I was definitely hesitant because logistically I didn’t know if we could pull it off, but he was not going to take no for an answer. I got a group of my close friends together, taught them all the pieces and bam we had a production! This slowly turned into the first ever AnthroArts Collective show “The Thoughts We Never Share” that premiered in March 2024. The show was a bigger success than I had anticipated, so I decided it was time to turn this thing into something a little more legit. We had company auditions later that summer, which were, once again, more successful and bigger than I had anticipated. We have been rolling with it ever since. We are now in our third season of AnthroArts Collective. I have two adult companies and an apprentice company. Our adult companies focus on holding open class for the community, performing in different festivals around the valley, and producing one evening length show every Spring. Our apprentice company focuses on training students 12 and up in the world of concert dance. We want them to come out of this program knowing ALL of the opportunities that are out there for them and feel prepared for whichever path they choose to take.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No road is ever completely smooth. We have definitely had some challenges along the way, the biggest of them always being funding, but we work with what we have! I am so thankful to have a huge support system behind both myself and the company and that always helps to get us through obstacles. Last year we were gearing up for our apprentice show and twoish weeks before the show our venue cancelled on us… which is probably one of the biggest nightmares you can have for a production. I was out of town and didn’t have a ton of time to handle all of this but we needed to act fast! Luckily, my Assistant director Rayshawn Watkins and Administration Assistant Joy Palmer both jumped on it right away and had things figured out before I was even able to make it back to my laptop. Having people that believe and are invested in the company has been absolutely life saving in every aspect. You cannot run everything on your own so I am beyond grateful I am able to have people that can help me navigate and obstacles/challenges that come up.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a dancer and creative before anything else. I specialize in works based on the ideas behind simple human nature. What does it mean to be a human? What are the things we all experience no matter who we are or how we grow? How do we all act and react within the space we have created in society? A deep dive into simple humanity is what drives and inspires my company and my work. I use a mix of modern and commercial contemporary movement to display the rawness of life through abstract concepts and choreography. I am so proud of the work that has been produced through my company AnthroArts Collective. I think generally speaking we are producing a lot of content that people can relate to and see themselves in. I also do pretty much all of the creative direction behind the company, all of the photography, videography, graphic design, and general concept planning is done by me with the support of my company members. Anthro has given me a HUGE outlet for all things creative and it is my favorite thing in the whole world.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
People are generally pretty surprised when I tell them how late I started dancing. I was about 13 when I started taking this whole thing seriously. I think to anyone outside of the dance world this seems pretty young, but most people start dancing when they’re two so I was pretty late to the game in comparison.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthroartsco or https://www.instagram.com/trinitygracia