Professor Joe Goode will retire from UC Berkeley at the end of June following a 23-year tenure with the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS). Goode is a renowned choreographer, writer, and director who has created more than 50 new works with his San Francisco-based company, Joe Goode Performance Group. His work combines movement with music, video, spoken word, and humor—often pushing the boundaries of contemporary dance theater.
"It has been a great joy and privilege to be in the presence of Berkeley students for 23 years," Goode said. "During all of that time I maintained an active professional company, and it was always a delight to get the fresh perspective of the students, some of whom went on to join the company and to become stellar artists in their own right. I have treasured my brilliant colleagues and the appetite for out-of-the-box thinking for which Berkeley is famous. I will never be far away."
Since joining the TDPS faculty in 2001, Goode has choreographed numerous pieces for the department's annual dance concert, Berkeley Dance Project, and mentored dozens of students in choreographing solos and duets for the annual Fall Choreography Showcase. His original productions for the department include Disaster Series: The Continuation (2004), Dead Boys (2009) with music by Holcombe Waller, Deviations (2010), Reentry: The Process of Resilience (2016), and The Wednesday Club (2024) with music by Ben Juodvalkis. For several years, Goode also directed Lab Run, an annual production of experimental performances created by Ph.D. students from the Graduate Group in Performance Studies.
Goode recently received an L&S Faculty Award and was lauded by Sara Guyer, Dean of the Division of Arts & Humanities. “When Berkeley students take a class with Joe Goode, they become members of a dance community to which many professional dancers spend a career aspiring to join," Guyer said. "Joe’s extraordinary humanity, his ground- (and ceiling)-breaking contributions to the arts, and his commitment to our students represent the very best of the arts at Berkeley.”
Information about Goode's ongoing creative work with the Joe Goode Performance Group can be found at JoeGoode.org