Pat Graney is an American activist and

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. She founded the Pat Graney Dance Company in 1991, and continues to serve as its artistic director and executive director.

Childhood and education

Born in

Chicago, IL Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, she moved to

St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville, the city is on the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic c ...

with her mother and three siblings to be closer to extended family after the passing of her father in an accident. In St. Augustine her mother ran a book shop and antique shop in the ground floor of their house, exposing Graney to a world of literature that would greatly influence her creative work. Graney moved with her mother and siblings as well to

Mechanicsville, Virginia Mechanicsville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hanover County, Virginia, United States. The population was 39,482 during the 2020 census, up from 36,348 in the 2010 census. History The area was settled by ...

and

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

due to her mother getting remarried. She left home before completing high school, but was able to graduate through night classes back in St. Augustine, while living alone and supporting both herself and her younger brother. She went on to attend various colleges around the country, including

Tallahassee Community College Tallahassee State College (TSC) is a public college in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is part of the Florida College System and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has accredited the school. Peak enrollment was fall 201 ...

(

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

) and

The Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a ...

(

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

), before finishing at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. In Arizona, she studied extensively with John M. Wilson at the School of Dance, and received a BFA in 1979, at which time she moved to Seattle.

Activism

A feminist activist as well as a choreographer, Graney has worked with teens in the Seattle school system who have been identified as having been

trafficked ''Trafficked'' is a 2017 American thriller drama film directed by Will Wallace and starring Ashley Judd, Sean Patrick Flanery and Anne Archer. Plot In California, Sara is eighteen and has to leave her foster home; she is offered training to be a ...

''Keeping the Faith – The Prison Project''

In 1992, Graney began a non-religious arts-based educational residency program ''Keeping the Faith – The Prison Project'', intended to enrich the lives of incarcerated women and girls. As of 2013, the program works mainly with the Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women in

Belfair, Washington Belfair is a census-designated place in Mason County, Washington, United States. Located at the mouth of the Union River at Hood Canal, it serves as the commercial center of northern Mason County. The population of the surrounding area grows in ...

, but has made artistic interventions in places as diverse as Japan, Ireland, and Germany. The program introduces writing poetry, collaboratively creating dance pieces, visual arts and sign language. It is one of the nation's longest-running prison arts programs.

Choreography

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation describes her work as "featur nga diverse set of movement vocabularies that range from ballet to gymnastics to martial arts; explorations of female identity and power; and rich visuals." Seattle's

On the Boards On the Boards (OtB) is a non-profit contemporary performing arts organization in Seattle, Washington, founded in 1978. Originally located at Washington Hall in the Central District, the organization moved in 1998 to their current location in U ...

writes that "she often explores female identity and power, taking movement inspiration from ballet to gymnastics to martial arts to slapstick." Graney's 2004 piece ''The Vivian Girls'' was based on the drawings and stories of

Henry Darger Henry Joseph Darger Jr. ( ; April 12, 1892 – April 13, 1973) was an American writer, novelist and artist who worked as a hospital janitor, custodian in Chicago, Illinois. He has become famous for his posthumously recovered 15,145-page manuscri ...

; her ''Faith Triptych'', consisting of ''Faith'' (1991), ''Sleep'' (1995), and ''Tattoo'' (2001), was presented in 2010 at On the Boards. ''House of the Mind'' explored Alzheimer's through Graney's experience with her mother's loss of memory. Graney created ''Girl Gods'' in 2015 to explore the rage of women and girls in the face of social pressure and mistreatment. It draws from work by

Judy Chicago Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...

and

Ana Mendieta Ana Mendieta (November 18, 1948 – September 8, 1985) was a Cuban-American performance artist, sculptor, painter, and video artist who is best known for her "earth-body" artwork. She is considered one of the most influential Cuban-American ar ...

Awards

Graney has received the Alpert Award in the Arts (2008), a USA Fellowship (2008) a

Doris Duke Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealth, luxurious lifestyle, and love life attracted ...

Award (2013). In 1995, she won a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in Choreography.

Notes

External links

Pat Graney Company

Keeping the Faith (Pat Graney Dance Company)
YouTube, posted July 23, 2008.
Chamber Dance Company Archive: Pat Graney
University of Washington Chamber Dance Company, Research Guide on the site of University of Washington Libraries. {{DEFAULTSORT:Graney, Pat Living people American choreographers Artists from Seattle People from St. Augustine, Florida Tallahassee Community College alumni Evergreen State College alumni University of Arizona alumni People from Mechanicsville, Virginia Year of birth missing (living people)