Joanna Kotze is a Brooklyn-based, Bessie-award winning dancer, choreographer and educator. She creates highly physical dance performances through a collaborative, multi disciplinary process, presenting ways to look at effort, labor, humor, violence, unpredictability, and beauty through movement as well as the body’s relationship to sound, materials, light, and space. Her choreography has been presented by the American Dance Festival, UtahPresents, Wanås Konst, National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Wexner Center, The Yard, Bates Dance Festival, Opera House Arts, Velocity Dance Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, American Dance Institute, The Space at Irondale, New York Live Arts, Danspace Project, Bard College, Jacob’s Pillow, Dance New Amsterdam, Movement Research at Judson Church, Roulette, and other venues and galleries. She has created new works on Toronto Dance Theatre, Ririe-Woodbury, Zenon Dance, James Sewell Ballet and Gibney Dance. Joanna has had residencies through MANCC, Dance Place, Movement Research, Baryshnikov Arts Center, LMCC, New York Live Arts, 92nd Street Y, Exploring the Metropolis, Jacob’s Pillow, The Camargo Foundation, The Bogliasco Foundation, Milvus Artistic Research Center, Dance Programme Malmö, The Yard, Marble House Project, Loghaven, Djerassi, Bennington College, Mount Tremper Arts, Dance Place DC. She danced with Wally Cardona from 2000- 2010 and again in 2018 and currently dances with Kimberly Bartosik, Stacy Spence, and Donna Uchizono. She has also worked with Annie-B Parson, Tendayi Kuumba, Kota Yamazaki, Netta Yerushalmy, Sam Kim, Sarah Skaggs, Christopher Williams, the Metropolitan Opera ballet, Daniel Charon, Nina Winthrop and others. Joanna has taught at Movement Research, Gibney Dance, NYU’s Tisch, The New School, Barnard, Purchase, LIU, The Ailey School, Melbourne University, University of the Arts, Amherst, Sarah Lawrence, Southern Utah University, Ohio University, Miami University, The Field Center, Salt Dance Fest, Bates Dance Festival and the American Dance Festival. She is originally from South Africa and has a BA in Architecture from Miami University.

Photo of Joanna Kotze teaching dancers in a large studio. She has brown hair in a messy bun and bangs. She is demonstrating a movement with her hands bending at the elbow and palms facing away from her face, fingers spread. The students are behind her paying attention and adjusting. Photo by Jhsumedia.
ID: Photo of Joanna Kotze teaching dancers in a large studio. She has brown hair in a messy bun and bangs. She is demonstrating a movement with her hands bending at the elbow and palms facing away from her face, fingers spread. The students are behind her paying attention and adjusting. Photo by Jhsumedia.

Past classes and workshops