joshua blake carter

Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Joshua Blake Carter joined Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC) in 2009 as a member of Giordano II. He then danced for seven seasons with GDC’s main company where he had the opportunity to perform works by Frank Chaves, Peter Chu, Ron De Jesús, Autumn Eckman, Gus Giordano, Ray Leeper, Ray Mercer, Mia Michaels and more. Joshua is in his eighth season as Director of Giordano II, and he also serves as GDC’s Operations Manager. 

As a choreographer, Joshua’s works have been celebrated nationwide. 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. During his tenure with Giordano Dance Chicago he has created two original works for GDC’s main company and eight original works for Giordano II. Most recently Joshua was nominated for a 2019 Regional Broadway World Award for Best Choreography for his work on Disney’s NEWSIES at the Paramount Theatre. Other commissions include Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Nomi Dance Company, Visceral Dance Chicago, and Artifact Dance Project as well as an original work for Embarq with Joffrey Ballet. Additionally, Joshua created the finale for the 2016 event Sing! featuring Elton John, and he has been an Artist in Residence with Brenau University, Glendale Community College and Illinois State University.