Biography

August 4th, 1998... Joshua discovered his love for dance in Everett, WA when he went to a country bar for his 21st birthday. He had no idea how to dance, but he knew he wanted to try. Almost instantly, he started social dancing several times per week and became proficient very quickly. A year later of taking all the lessons he could and dancing every chance he got, Joshua moved to Boise, Idaho to go to school. Shortly after arriving in his new town, he got an offer to teach line and couples dancing at a local country bar. He accepted the offer and his classes grew quickly. But it didn't stop there. Soon after his new teaching gig began, Joshua caught the eyes of a local ballroom dance studio's owners. After seeing his potential as a dancer and teacher, they offered to train him if he agreed to work for them at their studio. He spent two years there, learning and teaching many dances, including Fox Trot, Waltz, Tango, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Cha-Cha, Mambo, Rumba and others.

While visiting some friends in Everett in 2001, Joshua was offered a job teaching ballroom and country dancing at a local studio. Ready to broaden his horizon's, he agreed. Once back in Seattle, however, he found himself drawn to the growing Salsa scene. After spending some time social dancing in the club scene, Joshua felt it was important "de-ballroom" his salsa dancing. His goal was to achieve a very fluid, clean, yet authentic Salsa style. He did just that, and was offered a position on Seattle's premier salsa troupe, Salsa Salvaje. After a year of traveling, performing, and teaching with Salsa Salvaje, he found his passion shifting yet again, this time towards West Coast Swing.

In 2002, Joshua got involved in the West Coast Swing community. He was confident of his abilities because of his experience with ballroom West Coast Swing dancing. He wasn't aware (and perhaps you're not either) of the intense contention between the two communities: swing dancers and ballroom swing dancers. After evaluating the opposing theories on how the dance should work, he agreed that the non-ballroom swing was much more efficient and fun. However, unlearning his ballroom habits proved to be a grueling three year process. After a lot of hard work, he now enjoys the reputation of being one of the better local swing dancers.

Although Joshua's passions in dancing are always growing and changing, he tends to most enjoy country Two-Step, West Coast Swing, social style ballroom, Nightclub Two-Step, Salsa, and is now finding lots of appreciation for Hip-Hop.