ARTIST STATEMENT

I dedicate myself to crafting theatrical dance worlds where movement, narrative, and atmosphere conspire to unsettle, delight, and invite audiences into deeper reflection. I want people who see my work to leave thinking about what they experienced, recognizing that dance can be both entertaining and thought-provoking, accessible and artistically rigorous.

My choreographic voice blends humor, nostalgia, and a slightly off-kilter theatricality with precise, idiosyncratic movement. Critics have described my work as "whimsical with a touch of melancholy," inhabiting a "colorful middle space that's equal parts kooky and tender." I'm drawn to stories that stage fear, desire, and moral ambiguity—currently mining the Gothic literary canon and horror genre for their psychological, social, and bodily stakes. By adapting iconic narratives like Sweeney Todd, Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera, and werewolf mythology, I use familiar characters to invite audiences who might be wary of dance into the theatre, then lead them toward more complex, surprising encounters with the form.

I think of the stage as a haunted house: a living architecture of bodies, light, and sound that reveals what we try to keep hidden from ourselves and each other. The "monsters" in my work are rarely simple villains; they're embodiments of collective anxieties, coded histories, and private vulnerabilities. My aim is to distill literary atmospheres and questions into kinetic, image-rich experiences that can only exist in dance.

My passion extends beyond crafting my own work. I'm committed to creating rehearsal rooms that are playful, rigorous, and humane—spaces where dancers and collaborators bring their full imaginative and lived experience to the process. I aim for performers to feel both technically challenged and deeply seen, and I'm dedicated to mentoring emerging artists, especially queer artists and artists from underrepresented communities, by modeling equity, curiosity, and care. I want to create work that invites culturally diverse audiences to see their lives reflected onstage in honest, genuine ways.

Process is central to my artistry. In the studio, I build detailed worlds with collaborators—dancers, designers, musicians, and scholars—through shared research, storytelling, and physical improvisation. I want audiences to encounter work that is structurally sophisticated yet emotionally legible, where movement becomes a universal language that speaks across communities and cultural divides.

Joshua L. Peugh in rehearsal with Dance Lab New York. Photo by Scott Shaw.

Photo by Scott Shaw courtesy of DLNY.

Dance is a human ritual.