JOSEPH
I was born in South Korea but was adopted when I was barely a few years old by Rocco and Pamela Franciosa. I grew up just across the bay from San Francisco. My Father owned his own business as a bricklayer and my Mother was a teacher. With my parents’ encouragement, I pursued an education in the arts and chose to study Drawing and Sculpture. I was drawn to the allure of the art world in New York, which I constantly heard about during my studies. My parents divorced and years later my father married Marie Cartusciello in Central park, New York. So, I had my first visit to the city that never sleeps and I immediately fell in love with its vibrant energy. Years later I would return and had the opportunity to study with art professors who would help unbind my artistic routine. Initially, my artistic preference veered away from computers and cameras. I felt the medium was too mechanical and distant. I had spent most my life in composition. Yet, upon picking up a camera again I realized the potential to translate what I had learned and to express my unique vision of the world. In particular I grew partial to architectural photography after growing up on my father’s job sites. Later on I saw a parallel to dance photography as both architecture and dance deal with relationship of bodies in spaces and the lines between. I now work as a freelance photographer for various organizations (Feldenkrais Institute of NYC, Fashion Week NY, Movement invention project NYC, Baltimore Tango Festival, etc) and as Creative Manager for production studios working with companies like Gap and DKNY. In my free time I started taking tango lessons as a way to learn dancing, which I had never done during my years in school. Tango appealed to me because of its intensity and as an outlet for creativity. To this date I have been dancing for over 8 years. Dance has taken me to cities across the US and Argentina and was the backdrop to which I met
Γεωργία.
Γεωργία
I was born and grew up in Athens, Greece. The eldest and only daughter in a family of 4 children. My Father, Yannis, is an academic professor in Physics and my Mother, Kali, a teacher of Mathematics. Despite their scientific focus my parents brought me to the dance school of Nena Papageorgiou- Mouratoglou at the age of 6 and this was critical for my life and my personality. After having danced and performed for all my life I contemplated a career in dance/choreography. However, I finally decided to engage in a Bachelor’s degree in Biology, in the University of Athens. After my degree, I moved to Paris to enroll in a Masters of Genetics and engaged in laboratory research in Molecular Neurobiology. I lived for 6 years in Paris, where I also obtained a PhD in Neurobiology and then I moved to New York City to continue my research. Today, I work as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at The Rockefeller University, to understand how brain cells -neurons and glia- make the brain in embryogenesis. All through these years of research, dance has been integral to my life, either in the form of contemporary dance, modern, flamenco and others. In Greece I was proud to follow all Nena’s productions and to be a member of the group Kyra Ithasimigi, in Paris I was grateful to be part of the group Peau, Pulpe et Noyaux, and in NYC my dance was transformed by the Simonson Technique in the group New Dance Collective. Finally, 4 years ago I started dancing argentine tango, which has changed my life decisively. Dance always brought me across my closest friends; now it also seems to have led me to my other-half.
ABOUT US...
We met each other in the autumn of 2013 while dancing Argentine tango in New York. Our friend Alex urged Joseph to follow his heart and "chase after" Γεωργία. We quickly inspired each other to create art, and express our ideas about life and social events.
Over time, it has become apparent that despite our differences in our culture and our work, our energy and rhythm mirror each other and our ways complement. We have always been in the center of projects and events with our friends, and our time has been filled with discussions on topics of socio politics, science and art. We have a mutual respect and interest in each other. We have learned to put aside our work and value our time together, something that neither one of us had done for ourselves before. At the same time we have come to appreciate and help each other in our workmanship and our overriding responsibility to perfection. Though it may be unexpected, we frequently exchange in our professional interests. Γεωργία has posed for Joseph’s photography and contributed to the directions and the fulfillment of his artistic projects. On the other hand, Joseph has had creative questions about how glia generate the worm’s brain. He enjoys discussing science, especially when new findings in astronomy come up! Moreover, he enjoys practicing “picking” and “chunking” worms when he chooses to keep Γεωργία company during her late nights at the lab. Eventually, we have even helped each other to laugh with our problems. Over the years, we have traveled to far away destinations with exotic images of nature or tradition; Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Argentina, Turkey. The undertaking of such adventures and our everyday life has helped us discover a kindred spirit who shares the same enthusiasm, energy and hope for the future. Our priorities for life have matured and aligned together at the same time. We have disagreed many times but come out of it stronger and more beloved. Thus we have decided to take the next step.
And so we are getting married in Sifnos, on 10 September 2017.
Why in Sifnos? Why this September?
No reason for rush. But when Joseph proposed to
Γεωργία, 3 years after they first met, we decided to not wait but have our wedding 3 years from the start of our relationship.
The tradition is that the wedding is held on the village or city of the couple or the bride.
But we decided to have our wedding in a Greek island, since we always miss the Greek sea and that is how we daydream of Greece when we get nostalgic; the sea, the sun, the heat and the breeze!
Sifnos is an island close to Athens but with vivid traditions, numerous paths for walking and little churches, near the sea. The month of September, that we usually visit Greece to close our summer with a special note, there are traditional and gastronomy-related festivities in Sifnos.
So we decided we want to celebrate this moment with you, in that beautiful setting.
