JOSHUA BLAKE CARTER

OPERATIONS MANAGER

DIRECTOR GIORDANO II

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

Education: University of Arizona

Years With GDC: 8 years dancing, 8 as Director, Giordano II, 4 as Operations Manager

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Email: joshuablakecarter@giordanodance.org

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Originally from Atlanta, GA, Joshua Blake Carter joined the Giordano Dance Chicago team in 2009 as a member of Giordano II.  He then danced seven seasons with the GDC main company before taking his final bow in 2017 to join the administration team as Operations Manager.  Joshua continues to serve as the Director of Giordano II, a position he has held since 2013.  Joshua holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts inDance from the University of Arizona, where he began to find his choreographic voice.  In 2009, he was selected as the winner of Wonderbound’s (formerly Ballet Nouveau Colorado) national choreography competition, dancemakers2.0, and in the spring of 2013 he was one of six winners commissioned to create a new work for DanceWorks Chicago’s DanceMoves choreography competition.  Later in 2013, Joshua was awarded the Producers’ Panel Prize by The Ruth Page Foundation for his work, Ripen, as part of Dance Chance: Redux 5.0.  His 2015 work for Giordano Dance Chicago, the only way around is through, was referred to as “fresh and

cohesive… honest and genuine” by Halfstack Magazine, and The Chicago Reader called his 2016 work Fracture for Giordano II “high-octane.”  Other commissions include Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Nomi Dance Company, Visceral Dance Chicago, Artifact Dance Project and Glendale Community College (Artist in Residence 2012), as well as an original work for Embarq with the Joffrey Ballet.  Additionally, Joshua created the finale for the 2016 event Sing! featuring Elton John.  Joshua has served on the Dance For Life Chicago Ambassador Committee since 2013, an organization for which he is very passionate.  As a dance educator, Joshua travels throughout the country in addition to being on faculty in several Chicago dance institutions.