Episode 15: Joy Alpuerto Ritter

While growing up in Freiburg in South Germany, Joy Alpuerto Ritter started dancing at the Ballettschule Armin Krain, and learned Philippine Folk Dance in the cultural dance group led by her mother. After training at the Palucca School in Dresden, she started working as a freelance dancer in Berlin—her current base—and learnt urban dance styles such as hip hop and voguing. In 2011, Joy joined Cirque du Soleil as a dancer and aerial artist for the Michael Jackson Immortal World Tour, and since 2013, she has been a dancer and rehearsal director for Akram Khan Company, dancing in works including 'ItMoi' and 'Until the Lions'. Now, Joy is focusing on creating her own choreographic works. Her solo 'Babae', a reimagining of German dance pioneer Mary Wigman’s 'Witch Dance', was shown as part of Aerowaves Springforward festival in 2020, and has toured extensively around Europe at festivals including Dance Umbrella in London. After speaking to Joy about 'Babae' numerous times for post show talks, I couldn’t wait to invite her on the podcast to delve deeper into her journey into dance, the many different styles she’s trained in over the course of her career, and her dreams for the future.