dancer. theatremaker. educator.
Photograph by Danny Alvarado
the man.
joseph webb is a multidisciplinary artist with more than 35 years of experience rooted in African diasporic vernacular dance, music, and African American Vernacular (AAV) poetics. His current work explores how Black vernacular dance functions as narrative within the conventions of original musical theatre, creating theatrical experiences where rhythm, movement, music, and text work in tandem to tell stories of love, resilience, and cultural memory across the Black Diaspora. Working in the lineage of the African griot, he creates original works that celebrate the resilience, complexity, and beauty of Black life while honoring the traditions that continue to shape his artistic voice. His work seeks to preserve Black performance traditions not as artifacts of the past, but as living practices that continue to evolve through contemporary storytelling and theatrical innovation.
An award-winning artist and educator, joseph appeared in the Tony Award-winning Broadway production Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk and Martin Scorsese's Bringing Out the Dead, among numerous other stage and screen productions. His work has been recognized by the Helen Hayes Awards and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation. He also directed and premiered Lotus at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during the grand reopening of the Eisenhower Theater to critical acclaim.
He holds an M.A. in Applied Theatre from the CUNY School of Professional Studies. As an emerging artist, joseph was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts (1996). Since then, he has received a YoungArts Alumni Grant to co-direct the award-winning 2016 film Hell You Talmbout; the 2022 NextLOOK Residency; the 2024 Changing Tap Times Initiative Grant to further research lovers rock reggae music and culture; and a commission from Symphony Space to choreograph new work for Wall to Wall Prince. Most recently, he was selected as a 24'/25' YoungArts Fellow supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and as a 2026 resident at the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, where he continued developing his original musical Lovers' Rock.
His work is perhaps best captured by The New York Times dance critic Roslyn Sulcas, who described joseph as "a natural star: a fabulous tap dancer who also raps, sings..."
Photographer Nick Moreland
No Chaser Magazine
Photographer Nick Moreland
Photograph by Stephane Clerge
Photographer Nick Moreland
Carlos Alayo Photography
the work.
the experience.
joseph webb is an award-winning artist and educator, who captivates audiences with his dynamic performances and choreography rooted in African diasporic culture, showcased on Broadway and prestigious venues like the Kennedy Center, Symphony Space, and New York City Center.
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joseph received a YoungArts Fellowship which is supported by The Rockefeller Brothers Fund to develop, prayers for a hopeless romantic: lovers rock.
This work celebrates and honors the lovers rock reggae era that was birthed in the UK by British Afro-Caribbean folk and told through their lens. Adesola Osakalumi is directing, Cris Eli Blak is on book, Hope Udobi is the composter and joseph is the conceiver and choreographer.
In February/March the creative team along with performing artists will do a workshop/residency at The Pocantico Arts Center in Tarrytown, NY.
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joseph received a CTTI (Changing Tap Times Initiative) grant to research lovers rock reggae music and culture for his new show, Prayers for a Hopeless Romantic: Lovers Rock. This performance art piece honors the liberation and eroticism of Black love through vernacular dance and Black diasporic language. It celebrates the reggae sounds and culture of the lovers rock era of the 70s and 80s through tap dance, blues dance, early dancehall movement, and original spoken word enactments.
joseph was commissioned to choreograph two works to Prince's music for the Wall to Wall Prince Celebration at Symphony Space (NYC) in May.
In June, joseph joined his brother and Broadway colleague, Baakari Wilder, for his show An Evening with Legendary Tap Dancer Baakari Wilder & Friends in Maryland.
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joseph teaches tap dance nationally and internationally. He enjoys being a dance educator and considers it an honor to pass on the knowledge imparted to him by his own dance teachers.
