Joshua Yow Yeh a proud Australian South Sea Islander Man from Mackay, Queensland. While Joshua has a strong heritage from the Pacific Islands of Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia, his bloodlines come from Yugambeh Bundjalung, Minjungbal, and Mununjali on his mother’s side and Bayali, Gooreng Gooreng, and Kabi Kabi on his father’s side. Joshua started dancing in workshops at PCYC with Uncle Patrick Thaiday in 2020 and cultural dances with ‘Tchundal Mular’, lead by his Uncle Toasie Cora, performing traditional dances from the Nunukal people of Quandamooka. He continued to perform contemporary Indigenous dances all around Queensland alongside artists such as Uncle Patrick Thaiday, a NAISDA and Bangarra alumni, and Zeak Tass who is now in Bangarra and danced at Disneyland Paris and featured in the Moulin Rouge.
Joshua is now in his third year at NAISDA and has been inspired by all that it has to offer, he is now looking into developing a new form of dance and storytelling which will be based off of his Australian South Sea Islander background, with a mix of culture, music, language and traditions from both Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Aboriginal inspiration. He is very passionate about telling the lost and unspoken history of Blackbirding and the Pacific Slave Trade the Australian Sugar Industries were built upon. Joshua’s interest in dance as a career was ignited after he joined the Bangarra Dance Theatre’s Rekindling Youth Program in 2022. His first professional performance was a collaboration work by his Uncle Luther Cora and the Yugambeh Dancers, and Robbie Curtis from Arc Circus. It’s a contemporary interpretation of a traditional Indigenous story ‘How the Birds got their colours’. This featured in the Swells Festival on the Gold Coast in 2022 and 2023, and again in Sydney Festival 2024, as well as Perth, Brisbane, and Darwin Festivals.
Joshua also is a musician and film maker, and has been awarded as a finalist in the category of film for the Indigenous Storytellers Scholarship in 2024. His passions and interests of music and film making complements his journey in the world of dance. In the future he aspires to produce feature films which will incorporate culture, music and dance. Joshua looks forward to building a diverse career within the arts industry and creating the foundations for a new generation to follow.