Joshua Beamish founded MOVETHECOMPANY in 2005. His works have toured throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Commissions include The Royal Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Vancouver Opera, Cape Town Opera, New York City Ballet’s Wendy Whelan/Restless Creature Compania Nacional de Danza de Mexico and Toronto Dance Theatre, among others. Joshua choreographed for the CBC Radio Canada series Ils Dansent and with Cirque du Soleil for World EXPO Shanghai.
He was an inaugural Artist-in-Residence at The Joyce Theater’s Choreographic Center, in addition to residencies at The Banff Centre and Jacob’s Pillow. Notable presentations include BAM Next Wave, The Joyce Theater, The Guggenheim Museum, Royal Opera House/London, Princeton University, Fire Island Dance Festival, The Harris Theater/Chicago, Artists in Action/Mumbai, Seoul International Dance Festival and the Bangkok International Festival.
Joshua has a passion for travelling and food. Whether touring Italy’s stunning regions, visiting every beach that passes, or weaving through English narrow country roads, Joshua joyfully plans his trip via the best restaurants, cafes and eateries.
Joshua’s artistic interests extend beyond dance to film. As a devout watcher of any and all Oscar worthy films, each year culminates in his own personal set of nominations, complete with insightful reviews.
-Written by Jack Tupper, partner
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Which ’hood are you in?
I currently live in Mount Pleasant, which has always been my favourite area of Vancouver. When I was a child my Grandma lived a few blocks away from where I live now, so it was where I stayed when I first visited the city.
What do you do?
I’m the Artistic Director of Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY, a contemporary dance company based in both Vancouver and New York. We produce contemporary and ballet productions, often working with artists from companies like American Ballet Theatre and The National Ballet of Canada. Outside of the company, I create commissioned works for opera, dance and film. I also teach ballet consistently at Modus Operandi Contemporary Dance training program, a division of Out Innerspace Dance Theatre.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently creating my first full-length work in four years, Source Amnesia. “Source Amnesia” is the inability to remember where, when, or how previously learned information was acquired. If one cannot recall the source of an act or event, it is possible to believe false prompts as fact, rather than fiction. In this work, I place five dance artists into an ever-shifting reality to expose the fragility of truth. Exploring pertinent and critical themes of misinformation, fake news and memory distortion, this production reflects our current moment in history through highly virtuosic and fast-paced dancing.
Where can we find your work?
You can next find my work Source Amnesia live at Vancouver Playhouse Jan 13-14 and then in Edmonton Jan 20-21 at the Timms Centre. After that, you can catch my production @giselle at On Stage at Kingsborough in Brooklyn, NY in May 2023. The best place to follow my work is on Instagram. You can also check my website.
