Joshua L. Ishmon
What words/phrases describe you as an educator?
CHALLENGING + CARING + ANIMATED + ENCOURAGING + RESPECTFULLY “INNAPROPRIATE” WITH ADULTS :)
What words/phrases come to mind when you think of Ballet?
USEFUL BUT NEEDS TO BE KEPT IN CHECK TO PREVENT ELITIST ASSOCIATIONS
“I was first introduced to ballet pretty young but I was asked to take it more seriously just before going to Performing Arts school around 13. I absolutely hated ballet throughout my grade school tenure. A primary aversion was certainly due to the stigmas associated with men doing ballet and surviving the ignorance that infuriated and plagued the environment I grew up in, which was obviously not exclusive to my circumstances. I'm sure another major deterrent was how difficult ballet was on my very stiff body. My love and appreciation changed when I came under the care and tutelage of Mr. Eckhard Hiedrich, a former principal Dancer of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. He was instrumental in helping to change my views on and approach to studying ballet by showing me how to make it work in my body without losing the integrity of the technique.
I cannot say it has shaped my life, per se, but it's certainly a tool I've grown to use frequently. If you're in the woods with a great knife, no one would ask how having such a great knife shaped your life. Seeing as I'm still actively dancing with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater as well as teaching and choreographing, it's irrefutably a muscle that's being flexed daily.As I mentioned earlier, my biggest influence is Eckhard Heidrich but there are many others whom I still hold onto nuggets from: Nicole Clarke-Springer, Carolina Monnerat, Dan Duell, and Porsha Woodson-Reese and Graca Sales.
I said yes to this project because simple… Tuli is the best and I’m glad to support her in whatever she has going on!”
Joshua L. Ishmon was born and raised in Gary, IN. He is a 2007 graduate of Emerson School for the Visual and Performing Arts where he also studied with Ballet Chicago and M.A.D.D. Rhythms. After completing Deeply Rooted Dance Theater’s Summer Intensive (2006-2007), Ishmon joined the second company, where he continued his professional training in Horton, Graham, Ballet, and African Pyragrammic and received choreography/leadership coaching. In 2009, he matriculated into the 1st company of DRDT. He founded and directed Deeply Rooted’s Emerging Choreographer’s Showcase for 10 years, and served as Rehearsal Director of DRDT for 7 years in addition to continuing to dance with the company and currently serves as Resident Choreographer. Ishmon was also a member of Winifred R. Harris’ Between Lines (Denver, CO), Seamless Dance Theater (Kansas City, MO), a guest artist with Ballet Chicago as well as Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (where he danced in the Bessie Award winning cast of Donald McKayle’s “Rainbow Round My Shoulder”), and has shared the stage with Bobby McFerrin. Ishmon is an Artist in Residence at Purdue University's Black Cultural Center, has taught dance at several organizations and institutions across the US and has choreographed for a multitude of programs including Deeply Rooted, Ballet Chicago, South Shore Dance Alliance, Carnegie Arts Center, Cirqua Rivera, Purdue Contemporary Dance Company and served as a co-choreographer and curator for the Chicago's Teen Dance Festival Showcase. In 2015, Ishmon founded Production: COLORS, a project based collective that uses music, dance and storytelling to investigate the myriad of human experiences, with composer/co-founder, Sam Thousand. In 2017, Ishmon was voted Chicago Best Choreographer by the Chicago Reader, listed as Breakout Contemporary Dance Artist by Newcity Chicago, became a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist, and named a 3Arts Make A Wave artist in 2021. Joshua is always in a constant pursuit of deepening his artistry, continuing to grow, and must pay homage to the amazing people whose shoulders’ he stands on.