Joseph Toonga

Joseph makes and performs dance productions relevant to the here and now which are embedded in hip hop and inspired by real life stories. His craftsmanship and signature choreographic style challenges conventions commonly used in hip hop dance and shifts audience perceptions by addressing racial stigmas and societal stereotypes. 

In Autumn 2021, he was Movement Director for Fair Play, A Bush Theatre Direction by Ella Road. Other commissions and achievements to date include working with The Royal Ballet School, English National Ballet School, DanceEast (where he is Associate Artist), Secret Cinema (in collaboration for the premiere of Les Miserables), Boston Conservatoire of Dance, Middlesex University, Codarts University of the Arts, Rotterdam, EDge, National Youth Ballet/Bundesjugendballett, Richard Alston Dance Company, Junior Ballet Madrid (Elephant in the Black Box), and East Wall (with Hofesh Shechter). He was also awarded the Best Choreography Award at New York’s Reverb Dance Festival. 

Alongside extensive teaching and independent commissions, Joseph runs his dance company Just Us Dance Theatre, a collective founded 2007 where he has established an international Artist Development Programme in Brazil and the UK’s first annually running hip hop Apprenticeship company. He is also co-founder of artist-led hip hop initiative Artists4Artists.