Based in Paris, Joanne Leighton is a Belgian-Australian choreographer. Joanne Leighton & her company WLDN are in residence with : Paris Réseau Danse 2017-2019 (Atelier de Paris / CDCN, l’Etoile du Nord - Scène conventionnée dance, micadanses - ADDP and studio Le RegardParis Reseau Danse). WLDN is supported by the French ministry of Culture.
Directrice of the National Choreographic Center of Franche-Comté in Belfort (2010–2015), and founder of WLDN (2015), her works have been performed nationally and internationally in theaters, urban and industriel spaces, art galleries, town squares, on rooftops.
Her professional career spans a period of over 25 years. Her work is linked to an original, dynamic and constantly evolving vision of dance and her discourse is permeated by an emphasis on dialogue and exchange, both with the public and with her artistic collaborators. Joanne Leighton has to her credit over thirty dance productions. Her work has been co-produced and presented on many international stages for over 25 years, touring to France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Netherlands, Wales, the United Kingdom, Australia and Cuba.
After dancing in the Australian Dance Theater (1986-1991), Joanne Leighton moved to Europe. Her company Velvet was established in Brussels in 1994, where she received the SACD Prix for her choreographic work in 1994 and in 2010. She has been choreographer in residence in Belgium at the Raffinery (2003-2005), Les Halles de Schaerbeek (2005-2007); in France at the National Scène in Orleans, CDC South Pole in Strasbourg (2010), she was associated choreographer to the Rive Gauche in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray (2011-2014). She has also been commissioned to create work for international companies such as the Dance Theater of Ireland (2001); in Belgium for Charleroi Danses (2005); in France for the Ballet de Lorraine (2014) and in Switzerland for the company Marchepied (2015).
