Bio

I started professionally training at the age of 17 with The Danceworx, a dance academy in New Delhi, India. I trained in Ballet, Modern contemporary and Jazz from 2013-2016 while pursuing my inkling for Hip Hop and Street Dance on the side. As part of my training, I would also assist my seniors at the academy to take classes and various workshops during the year. By 2014, I had joined the junior company of dancers and had started taking my own classes at the academy where I would choreograph routines which the students would perform at an annual showcase. In 2016, I became a dancer in the senior company which would create and showcase pieces choreographed by resident choreographers at various auditoriums and theatres in New Delhi, as well as work with schools in the National Capital Region(NCR) to promote Dance in Education(D.I.E.). 

In the same year, I decided to pursue my education in Dance and went to the UK for BA(H) Dance at University of Chester. In Chester, the curriculum was mostly contemporary based, and I was extensively training in Skinner Releasing Technique and Flying Low with electives in Hip Hop and Urban Dance. I was also attending open classes in Ballet, Hip Hop and Capoeira outside the course to enhance my ability to dance. The course also introduced me to different choreographic practices and performance making which aided me in creating my own work in second and third year of my studies and developed my interest in performance and creation of dance. During the three years(2016-2019) of my undergraduate program, I was also working part-time with Liverpool based event companies(RiotSessions, Box Events and Signature Living Events) as a dancer, they organised various themed events mainly at the Cunard building and the Shankly Hotel in Liverpool. I have also performed and showcased choreographic pieces at dance platforms like Now Dance and Boys in Their Prime organised by Cheshire Dance in partnership with University of Chester. I was awarded Class Valedictorian in Dance upon the completion of my studies at Chester.

After graduating, I went on to do an MA in Dance Performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Dance and Music as part of Transitions Dance Company 2020. I was awarded the Tim and Jay Newling Scholarship and the Headley Trust Scholarship to help me pursue my further education at Trinity Laban. The curriculum had technique classes all through the week mixed with performance workshops and creative processes with the choreographers. The technique classes were Release based, Limon Technique and Cunningham which really enhanced the understanding of my body and how it moves. As part of the curriculum we created three pieces of work with choreographers Elisa Pagani(IT), Cameron Mcmillan(NZ/UK) and H2Dance(NO/SE/UK). The Repertoire was toured across various theatres in the UK. 

After completing my studies abroad and due to the pandemic, I landed back to India February 2021 and have been working as a freelancer dancer, dance teacher and dance tutor based in New Delhi, India and an aspiring Screen-dance artist.

As a young dancer I pull from multiple systems of information, while I am improvising or learning a piece of movement. I feel it enhances my ability to move differently from others and gives me and my body a voice to express how I feel about the world around me and in me. Due to this mixing of information as part of my studies, I also feed this into my ability to beatbox and compose music which in turn creates a holistic creative practice wherein I am capable of creating multiple pieces of work simultaneously. 

Joe Mathew