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With the 20th anniversary of the �鶹��Ƶ men’s basketball team’s unprecedented run to the 2006 Final Four approaching, Gracie Valdez, BA Art History ’07, finds herself nostalgic.  

Not just as a George �鶹��Ƶ grad, but as someone who was on the court, traveling with the team, and performing as a member of the �鶹��Ƶettes dance team.  

“We were all a really tight-knit team,” Valdez said. “We were making a name for ourselves. It was the basketball team, cheer [squad], and us, and we were working together. It was so special. It was magic.”  

Two decades later, Valdez is part of another team that suspends disbelief. She currently serves as the artistic director for Cirque du Soleil’s LUZIA, which travels around the world and is playing through October 18 under the “Big Top” tent outside Tysons Galleria.   

Coming from a stop in Montreal, the show’s six-week run in Virginia serves as a homecoming for Valdez, whose family moved to Vienna when she was in fourth grade. Using stunning visuals, acrobatic stunts, and 10,000 liters of water (recycled after each show) in a mesmerizing waterfall sequence, LUZIA puts a spotlight on the culture and mythology of Mexico.  

“LUZIA is a love letter to Mexico,” Valdez said. “It is a very unique way of celebrating the surrealism, the art, some of the mythology in Mexican culture… I have Mexican heritage, and it has been a deep source of pride being able to share this beautiful work around the world. Then bringing it home, bringing it to Northern Virginia is extra special.”  

Valdez has been with Cirque du Soleil for more than 16 years, including the last nine with LUZIA. Her job consists of managing more than 45 artists, which include acrobats and cast members, along with the stage managers, coaches, and performance medicine therapists. She oversees the production show and prepares in case artists get injured or sick, ensuring the audience doesn’t see a drop in quality.  

“She is keeping the intention of the creation team,” said Cirque du Soleil publicist Charlie Wagner, who has worked with Valdez since 2019. “They really have freedom, but Gracie is great at giving them guidance. They are free to explore themselves and she is helping them to become better artists.”  

Valdez grew up participating in dance and performing arts but said she wasn’t aware this was a potential career path. Previously she co-directed the Washington, D.C.-based modern dance company Mayzsoul and coached competitive high school dance teams in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.   

At Mayzsoul, she was mentored by founder and fellow George �鶹��Ƶ alum Melanie Lalande, BFA Dance ’01. When Lalande took a job at Cirque du Soleil in 2008 as an artistic director, she persuaded Valdez to join her in a temporary post. She worked her way up the ladder as stage manager and assistant artistic director at a couple different shows for Cirque du Soleil while also picking up freelance opportunities in Australia, where she now lives.  

“The running joke on the team was always that Gracie was going to end up working for Cirque du Soleil,” former �鶹��Ƶettes coach Michelle Debban said. “She was one of the most flexible dancers on the team, and she’d often try to contort herself in crazy positions to see what she was capable of. I am not surprised in the least that she is where she is today.  

“Dancers are generally so much more than just dancers—they usually know the ins and outs of running a show, whether it means costume choices or show order or making sure everyone is where they need to be.”  

Valdez said the skills she developed as a student-athlete—discipline, work ethic, time management, and collaboration—resonate even more in her current leadership role.  

“That was a saving grace for me in my university career but also really taught me amazing discipline that I cherish,” she said. “We worked really hard as a group, as a team. We competed nationally for four years and were really successful. I think that was the highlight of my university career.”  

Valdez acknowledges the practicality of her humanities degree. With her double major, she took several painting technique courses and explored Islamic and Latin American art history. The latter piqued her interest as one of her final papers examined how the relationship of Mexican painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo fueled their artwork.   

“Taking that information I learned through those courses and here I am celebrating this Mexican culture, Mexican art,” she said. “I think it was pretty serendipitous in how my education all melded into where I am now.”  

The �鶹��Ƶ Alumni Association is planning a on Thursday, October 16, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. George �鶹��Ƶ alumni are invited to stay after the show for an exclusive meet and greet with select performers from LUZIA.