Born to Colombian parents in Southern California, Giselle was raised in a family of artists and at a young age began to take dance lessons. She spent her childhood and adolescence dancing and performing at The Dodger's Stadium, KLOS' Mark and Brian Thanksgiving Parade, The Anaheim Pond and The L.A. Coliseum.In her senior year of high school, Giselle was named a Top Ten Dancer with Dance USA. She went on to play with choreography, costuming and photography and taught ballet, lyrical and jazz dance to kids. She was part of the educational touring dance company based out of Orange Coast College called Danc'n Etc where they performed at various high schools to educate students on social justice issues. After attending college at various campuses she graduated from California State University, Fullerton where she earned a BA in Communications with an emphasis on Entertainment Studies and minored in Comparative Religion.The summer after graduating from college she traveled to Costa Rica to aide in environmental conservation. When she returned home she started a family before moving to Austin, Texas. After many years of being a stay-at-home mother, she was invited to attend the Tom Todoroff Acting Conservatory in New York City. Since returning to Austin she has performed in various productions on stage + on camera, produced short films and began her work with various film festivals.Giselle is Co-Founder of Austin Arthouse Film Festival - spotlighting work from filmmakers around the world who defy conventions and tropes, who champion art over mass appeal and whose work challenges audience expectation. After going virtual for the past three years due to the pandemic, the fest had a name change to The Arthouse Film Festival and has hosted pop up screenings in Austin, Los Angeles and will be coming soon to New York City.Giselle was part of the inaugural board at WIFT Austin as the Community Partnership Co-Chair and is a board member of In the Dew of Little Things - a 501(c)(3) non-profit designed to provide, promote or enhance services for the under served through art and stewardship for the purpose of friendship and solidarity. Recently, she has joined the B. Iden Payne Awards Council that recognizes outstanding theatrical performance, production and design in Austin.Some notable theatre collaborations have been with Ground Floor Theatre, Theatre En Bloc, Performance Platform Austin, ScriptWorks and Marfa Live Arts. Giselle has appeared as a guest speaker for the Film and Sequence Class at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, The Summer Theatre Series hosted by Austin ISD and was the moderator for the Directing Texas Women block at the Lake Travis Film Festival. She has spent many hours volunteering with various efforts and organizations most recently as a Volunteer Deputy Registrar and with SuperMajority, Austin Animal Center and Fusebox Festival. Giselle has appeared in numerous commercials and screens films for festivals including Austin Film Festival and SXSW.
