Joan is an independent choreographer based in Dundee, and since 2015, Artistic Director of Joan Clevillé Dance.  He has worked over 15 years as a dancer and rehearsal director in companies across Europe, including Scottish Dance Theatre, the Ballet of the Graz Opera (Austria), the Choreographic Centre of Valencia, and Ballet Carmen Roche (Madrid), as well as Lost Dog and Dog Kennel Hill Project (London).

Joan’s journey as a dance-maker started in 2006, and following his interest in choreography he obtained a masters degree with distinction at London Contemporary Dance School in 2012. After leaving SDT in 2013, he decided to remain in Scotland to develop his choreographic career. Since then he has received commissions from VERVE (Leeds), Next Liberty (Austria), Thomas Noone Dance (Barcelona), Café Fuerte (Switzerland), Project Y (Scotland) and Institut del Teatre (Barcelona) amongst others. Joan has been the Associate Artist at Scottish School of Contemporary Dance since 2014 and was one of Tramway’s Associate Artists in 2017-18.

Joan’s practice is rooted in movement research and experimentation with theatre and storytelling, challenging the conventional boundaries between genres. His works invite audiences of all ages and backgrounds to engage with their senses, intellect and imagination, and often explore subjects connected to our contemporary reality and the notion of change.

Since 2015, Joan Clevillé Dance has been consistently attracting the interest of audiences, reviewers and industry opinion-makers. The company’s inaugural work, Plan B for Utopia, has been performed over 75 times to audience and critical acclaim across Scotland, the UK and abroad. It has been invited to festivals in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Poland and Argentina, and has received the endorsement of prestigious international showcases such as British Dance Edition, internationale tanzmesse, and the Made in Scotland and British Council Edinburgh Showcases, where it was shortlisted for the Fringe Sustainable Practice Award. The piece was also selected amongst 150 applicants for the first Rural Touring Dance Initiative, curated by the National Touring Forum, The Place and China Plate.

The company’s second full-length work, The North, was co-commissioned by The Place and Tramway and has recently completed a tour of 21 shows across the UK as well as being selected for the next edition of the Rural Touring Dance Initiative. Performer Solène Weinachter and designer Matthias Strahm were recently nominated by the Sunday Herald´s Scottish Culture Awards for their contribution to the work.