Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua L. Peugh.
Joshua, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I came to Dallas to attend Southern Methodist University where I received my undergraduate degree. After graduating, I moved to Seoul, South Korea to join Universal Ballet Company. When I felt satisfied with performing classical ballet, I left the company (although I returned as a guest artists for the next four years) and taught at an English language kindergarten for a year in order to keep my visa and stay in Korea. While I was teaching, my best friend and I created Dark Circles Contemporary Dance in 2010 in Seoul, South Korea.
At the very end of 2011, I returned to Dallas to take the position of Associate Choreographer at Bruce Wood Dance Project and both created and danced for that company for a year and a half. After resigning from my position there in 2013, I founded the Dallas-based branch of Dark Circles Contemporary Dance (we still have a fully functioning branch in South Korea).
Has it been a smooth road?
There are always challenges; there isn’t a prescription for how to create and sustain a successful anything, in my opinion. We continue to push our own boundaries and strive for excellence. As a choreographer, I believe the best way to get better at my craft is to continuously make things and continuously see what others are making. I truly believe–because it has been true for me–that if you follow your dream with an open mind and an open heart, you will be successful. I treat Dark Circles the same way; I continue looking for ways to make it new and fresh. Challenges encourage invention or reimagining.
We just announced our 2018-19 Season. The company will produce seven world premieres, including a brand-new evening-length creation by me, as well as commissioned works by highly sought-after and emerging choreographers Sidra Bell, Mark Caserta, Eoghan Dillon, and Mikey Morado.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Dark Circles Contemporary Dance – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Dark Circles Contemporary Dance (DCCD) is a dynamic company of national caliber and international recognition based in Dallas, providing the area with innovative and excellent contemporary dance. DCCD crafts and curates inspiring, innovative, and accessible dance. We strive to educate the public on the power of movement in communicating ideas. We want audiences to get lost in the fantasy on stage, but leave the theatre with questions about the depths of our humanness: how we connect, interact, and react with one another. We present original, high-quality work in diverse venues to reach a wider constituency. From public spaces to traditional concert dance performance halls, we are committed to showcase dance works that are meaningful, touching, and relatable to both performers and audiences. Through our efforts to produce excellent art and utilize diverse stages, we endeavor with every performance to inspire reflection, conversation, and positive change in our supporters.
DCCD has gained an international reputation based completely on innovative and original new work. In just five seasons, the company has commissioned and produced over 25 world premieres by some of today’s top choreographers. DCCD engages its audience by performing in small venues where attendees experience more intimacy and connection with what is happening onstage. This feature represents a major point of differentiation with our peers, who typically perform in larger spaces. DCCD performs its own programs in spaces no larger than 500 seats, keeping audience engagement through intimate performance settings as one of its highest priorities. DCCD commissions guest choreographers who have distinctive styles and share our commitment to artistic excellence. By doing so, we stimulate our audiences and artists alike.
DCCD has enjoyed the honor of becoming a prominent part of North Texas’s cultural landscape. With such recognition comes the obligation to contribute to Dallas’s viability as a destination for talented dance artists who aspire to live sustainable lifestyles in pursuit of their art. DCCD is proud that enthusiasm for the company’s work has spread nationally and internationally as evidenced by the diverse backgrounds of artists who traveled to Dallas from far away to audition. For our 2018-19 Season, we will welcome five new dancers to the company. All five will relocate to the City of Dallas to be part of DCCD and the work we are creating.
DCCD provides engaging and entertaining programming to the often overlooked, younger segment of the population, which contains over a million people in the DFW area. Although not currently considered a target audience for most dance companies, we believe by cultivating and developing an appreciation for dance within this audience we are creating a new “young” segment for dance.
DCCD is determined to engage Dallas’s large and diverse community. We regularly provide free public performances and participate in outreach programs with the goal of providing access to citizens who may not otherwise have the opportunity to view concert dance or take part in a performing arts organization. In the past, we have partnered with groups such as Girls Inc., DEA Educational Foundation Youth Dance Program, AIDS Outreach Center, Dallas’ Resource Center, among others.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I have chosen Dallas as my city; I’m not from here. It is the city where I am choosing to create work and live. As I travel all over the country for commissions, I encourage other artists to consider this city too.
Dallas is exploding! There are so many opportunities and hidden treasures in this city, and, it is evolving rapidly. I can’t wait to see what the new Dallas Cultural Plan can do to make things more accessible to our fast-growing ethnically, culturally, and racially diverse community.
Unfortunately, although we have a large thriving arts district, it can, at times, feel uninviting and inaccessible to average and low-income working people and families. The great news is that the leaders of the city and the Arts District itself are aware of the challenge and are making moves to address this issue.
Pricing:
- Tickets are $25
Contact Info:
- Address: Dark Circles Contemporary Dance
3630 Harry Hines Blvd #29
Dallas, TX 75219 - Website: https://www.darkcirclescontemporarydance.com/
- Email: info@dccdusa.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dccdusa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dccdusa
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DCCDUSA
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdsLCCsa8fdizQpElnU2b4w
Image Credit:
Personal photo: Lee Min Ok
Photos: Sharen Bradford, Lynn Lane, Sharen Bradford, Sharen Bradford, Chadi El-Khoury, Chadi El-Khoury, Orlando Agawin, Orlando Agawin
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
