Time. Patience. Be.
Choose. Thankful. Release.
MEET JOEJOE LINKSLEARN ABOUT JOE |
Joe is a trained
Modern and Ballet dancer He expanded to Salsa, Afro-Cuban, House, Hip Hop, Afro-Brazilian, Dancehall, and Contemporary styles He studied various theatre forms to incorporate more interactive elements into his performances Currently a Product Manager using technology to create access and equity within the Credit Industry. JoeChoreo houses Joe's
modeling, acting, dancing, and other artistic endeavors Explore the DOES menu for past work JoeChoreo is Joe's
- personal approach to movement - contribution to dance's societal, educational, and performative history - perspective as a queer black man Yoga with JoeChoreo
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JOECHOREO TIMELINE
bROOKLYN, BOSTON, BUSINESS
Born in Brooklyn, NY, Joseph grew up copying his sisters recital routines and cheer leading practices. His mom dances when she cleans and his dad in the club. Joseph attended Milton Academy in Milton, MA where he choreographed three pieces and performed in 31 over his four years. Joseph has interned at the Dance Complex in Cambridge, MA and Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn, NY. Joseph attended Pomona College in sunny Claremont, CA. he engaged in a breadth of classes focused on Economics, to support his Investment Banking past, and created "The Workshop" a series of drop-in dance classes for students unable to make a large time commitment, but wanted to keep dance in their lives.
2015
Joseph graduated from Pomona College in 2015 as a Dance major. After immediately applying to graduate school in Germany, his rejections gave him pause to consider, "What have I done and where do I want to go?" He participated in CSU Summer Arts: Monterey Bay and joined Contra Tiempo Futuro ('15-'16), the junior company of Contra Tiempo, all within the same summer. In 2016, Joseph secured a recurring role in the play Snap Honey, performed in Los Angeles Dance Festival and his largest event to date with Viver Brasil at the Hollywood Bowl.
Joseph's switch to Contra's Tiempo's afro-Cuban salsa styles and Viver Brasil's afro-Brazilian style, after training Modern and Ballet at Pomona for 4 years, reminded him of his Caribbean roots and dance origins: Jamaican Dancehall. Embarking on a personal journey, Joseph is using his lived past as a son of Jamaican immigrants, research on slave histories, historical anecdotes rarely told, and more to create dance/performance modules that explore facets of his identity, in a growing piece called #Storytime.
2016
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The first work born out of #Storytime titled:
#We Out Here.docx. The piece weaves together sexuality, class, privilege, and race seeing where they all meet: in liminal love. Please watch with CCs/Captions auto-generated by Youtube. Performed at: Lula Washington's Dance All Day Fest (2016) sponsored by the Dance Resource Center |
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2017
In 2017, Joseph trained and performed a piece choreographed by VersaStyle Dance Company.
In 2018, Joseph trained and performed a piece choreographed by the Tero Saarinen Company.
The performances were at Scripps College.
In 2018, Joseph trained and performed a piece choreographed by the Tero Saarinen Company.
The performances were at Scripps College.
2018
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Joseph sought to enroll in a Master of Education, Higher Education Administration and Policy. He applied and received admission to three programs hoping to begin at UC Riverside this past fall, however, his work schedule wasn't flexible enough to accommodate the added responsibility. The process forced him to define personal goals and reflect on his perceived positioning in this world.
He noticed that his position as an IT Technician is interdisciplinary. Needing to know enough across a variety of fields to help other professionals accomplish their goals. After performing his first solo and applying to graduate school again, Joseph began having a larger internal conversation of:
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UC Riverside Personal State... by Joseph Reynolds on Scribd |
2019
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In January, Joseph began formally training in Playback Theatre!
Playback called upon his wealth of improv skills, but his desire to connect with audiences members and help change their lives in the midst of a performance. Joseph was adamant that dance could create those experiences, but knew he needed to be well versed in another style where dialogue was the medium. Dance deserves to enter other's world and give them an opportunity to take a glimpse at themselves. So far the training has been immersive and fulfilling. If anything it reminded Joseph that there was deeper to go, more to learn, and many others to help. |
Joseph is still working on ways to incorporate live captioning in to his performances.
He attended the 2018 Abilities Expo at the LA Convention Center. He watched "9" Cas public's piece focused on their dancer Cai Glover's experience with a Coclear Hearing Implant. Most recently, Joseph has been attending monthly Advocacy Meetings at the Claremont SCIL (SoCal Independent Living Center) to gain a less voyeuristic perspective when it comes to creating art for and with people with disabilities. |
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Black 1.3 - Fall Black The Black Speculative Arts Movement - LA KAOS Network, Leimert Park 9.29.19 |
The piece explores the themes: Fall into the Blackness|Darkness, Embrace the Darkness, Our Time is Darker, Post-Fall Equinox, The Nights are Longer.
My format of performance aims to give the dancer and their particular body agency in telling a story. Addressing the body of a dancer as it exists off stage and in history. I focused on the approximately equal nature of an equinox relating it to the approximate equality I experience as a black man in the U.S. Diving into history to source the fabric for a re-stitching of what I've come to see as my life, while calling into the future to imagine the questions that need to be asked to help me arrive there. The piece explores and explains, revolving concepts, imagery, and meaning around themselves to deconstruct the strict notions many bring into the theater, projecting onto our work. The work is also fully captioned and uses light scoring to make dance theater as inclusive as possible for the Deaf community. By addressing my desired spoken word format, I am able to have more dialogue with more people. |
2020
Delayed due to a pandemic, but coming.
2021
Delayed due to a pandemic, but coming.
2022
Delayed due to a pandemic, but coming.
MONDAY
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Matt and Joe dish on a mise en place of news, memes, films, music, and more.
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LISTEN EVERY MONDAY/TUESDAY September - May @ 12AM |
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A paradoxical affinity exists in the arts world. A quick search of "fine arts cuts" will reveal countless articles of the trend, but most fail to address the arts in more dire positions: Theatre and Dance Dance in Media and Entertainment is more respected and well-funded than Dance in Education. This imbalance must be acknowledged and addressed! Dance may be used when supplementing fun joviality in advertisements or behind musicians and the lead performer; however, we are structurally forced to serve until we fight for our opportunity to lead. Dance is the least visceral art for many people yet the most dependent on the other art's success because we as a society are taught to understand through sight and hearing first. Dance calls upon the specific connection you have to yourself and your own body; Yet the lack of dance programming and exposure for all ages only encourages the atrophic cycle. Ultimately Joseph wants to transform Public School Arts Education. At a fundamental level, changing how people value dance, movement, and our bodies. Unlike other visual or performing arts, Dance has many barriers which dissuade investment: - A studio can take up as much space as a whole theatre while unable to be implemented for most other art activities. - Rehearsal for dance performances require paying humans and for the space used during each rehearsal. - In our day to day, most media of any medium focus on visual and aural forms of dissemination. |
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"The body is a sacred garment:
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