In order to understand who I am now, as a professional dance artist — you must first take a look back..

I am Joey Weaver. I grew up in suburbia — Eagan, Minnesota, in the second half of the 90’s & early 2000s. I was a gifted athlete with a big competitive drive. I played baseball, basketball and football (among others) in competitive traveling leagues for many years. Therefore, my first taught physical technique was rooted in function and layered with coordination, mechanics, speed, and strength. I was also the type of kid that, instead of simply walking down a sidewalk, found it more compelling to explore the architectural tangents - climbing and jumping off things as I would stroll forward. I’ve always found joy in physically exploring my environment. Retrospectively, there’s a lot of proof for how dance manifested in me at early ages. In home videos, my brother and I would put on “concerts” for my parents: blasting N’SYNC or Britney Spears and singing/dancing along. When revisiting these videos as an adult, it’s interesting that my brother would sing a lot and sprinkle in some dancing here and there, and I was the exact opposite. I clearly preferred physical expression in performance, and to witness that choice and freedom from the age of five makes my journey evident.

My access point to formal dance training was a ‘boys group’ at a local studio. I joined when I was nine years old, training in jazz and tap in said boys group. I started competing at the studio with other groups when I was 12, which is when I started learning ballet and lyrical forms. Informally, I would also teach myself hip hop - I felt viscerally compelled by its movement and music. Its grounded-ness and rhythm felt right in my body. I trained, performed and competed in dance and sports from elementary school all the way through high school. Being active in both sports and dance in my developmental years felt culturally dualistic but I loved immersing myself in physicality. I was drawn to the task-based and improvisational physicality of sports, and the performative freedom and expression of dance.

Dance grew into a passion when I decided to study dance in college. I attended the University of Minnesota where modern dance and improvisation were introduced to my body, among training in many other forms. Via modern class, my movement journey became about releasing my musculature. Being an athlete first gave me quick-twitch muscles that now needed to find ease. My commitment and curiosity with movement itself skyrocketed during this college cornucopia of body-mind centering/somatics, improvisation, theory and a wealth of technique classes to apply everything in. I had an expanded tool belt and couldn’t wait to utilize it.

There have been so many dance processes with choreographers that have introduced me to new ways of moving. Each process has challenged and grown my artistic range and renewed my passion for movement. One choreographer is Carl Flink of Black Label Movement, who instilled the power of simplicity, finding your own personal range and diminishing unnecessary residual movements. Another being Brian Brooks of The Moving Company, who’s brilliant and complex work Torrent had me balancing difficult vocabulary, delicate yet functional partnering and exquisite timing, on top of an underlying snow-globing relationship to space and a sweeping drive. The last one I’ll mention is Hofesh Shechter, who’s flagship sensory metaphor of envisioning you have strings from your head, hands and feet attached to your center to create a full body, elastic energy and a sense of totality has allowed me to experience complete control and awareness of my body in space. As a professional dancer: working with Daara Dance I utilized my hunger as a contemporary mover working in and out of the floor and my imagination to live within a world; working with Black Label Movement I’m utilizing my athletic body to fly about and to realize exhaustion; with Zenon Dance Company I utilized my theory, curiosity and technique to protect the intentions of a wealth of choreographers’ works; with John Mark Creative I access my rhythm, showmanship and style, with Berit Ahlgren I balance my sense of play with my complete focus to bring life to a unique movement language.

The type of work I’ve been involved in runs the gamut, which not only speaks to my excitement to explore the many avenues of movement but also to my ability to adapt to a multitude of styles. My artistic excellence resides in my versatility, and the components that shape my versatility are what enable me to be compelling on stage. Components like my drive and determination in and out of the studio, my specificity and care for the details and my hunger for (and subsequent empowerment by) learning something new.

I found a voice as a dancer during my childhood while performing on stage in recitals but I found and refined my excellence years later while improvising alone in the studio. Through practicing improvisation I’ve found my depth and nuance. Improvisational research is a gateway toward mastery and that practice is what excites me about dance. Exploring the physical sensations of my body and staying playful in my mind is what keeps me tethered to dance work and fuels my passion to maintain dance as a career. It is through reflecting on my journey and staying honest with myself that I’ve come to realize that what I most love about dance is 1) movement itself. The literal sensation of moving my body and the joy and challenge of exploring something new. and 2) the irreplaceable energy of live performance. That intangible feeling, like vibrations in the air seeping into your bone marrow and sparking thrill into your soul. Like riding a rollercoaster that you’re crafting for yourself in real time. On stage, I put everything out there: working to accomplish the vision of the choreographer, finding genuine connections with those I’m on stage with and keeping myself clear and responsive to the audience. If I practice those things and the audience is willing, that’s when something special happens.

I trained at an intensive in December 2021 that reinvigorated & deepened my expertise in floorwork and partnering and also introduced me to acting/dance-theater techniques which has been my latest personal evolution. There’s nothing I take more pride in than being a dancer and experiencing community through dance performances and events. I plan to keep elevating my craft, staying open and seeing where dance takes me. At the end of the day, it is my innate joy and visceral passion for MOVEMENT that keeps me feeling alive and fulfilled.