Joan is the founding artistic director of Dell'Arte International and the director of the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre.

She is an actor, playwright, director and teacher, whose acting work was recognized with a 2006 Fox Foundation/TCG Resident Actor Fellowship in the first round of awards for professional development. In 2004 she was honored at the 16th Cairo International Experimental Theatre Festival as a leader in the field of experimental theatre.

Joan designed the curriculum for Dell’Arte’s accredited MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre, now in its fifth year. She is a senior teacher of the Alexander Technique; her teaching work includes movement, mask performance, commedia dell'arte, physical acting and voice. She has devoted her research to the work of the actor as mover/creator.

 As a Dell’Arte Company member, Joan is part of the acclaimed ensemble whose unique physical style reflects more than 30 years of collaborative creation. Her solo show, “Second Skin,” has been seen in Prague, Budapest, Spain, Victoria, B.C., at the Kennedy Center, many US cities, and continues to tour internationally. She has directed at San Diego Rep, Houston’s Alley Theatre, Bloomsburg Ensemble, A Traveling Jewish Theatre and Dell’Arte. Joan has written eight plays, and co-authored 12 plays produced and toured by Dell'Arte International.

In 2003 she appeared in Yale Rep's Medea, Macbeth, Cinderella, and has performed with the San Diego Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Festival and others. She has collaborated several times with designer/director Giulio Cesare Perrone on experimental productions of Casanova's memoirs and Milton's “Paradise Lost.” Designer G.W. Mercier created a piece for her, “Flock,” which is under development.

Joan has taught MFA programs at Yale, UCSD, University of Missouri Kansas City, as well as for the artists of Cirque du Soleil. She leads annual study trips to Bali to introduce students to Balinese performing arts, and has been two awarded international observership grants to Brazil.

With the support of the Fox Foundation, she has spent 3 years researching voice pedagogy for actors with such teachers as Patsy Rodenburg, Richard Armstrong, Catherine Fitzmaurice and others. She is a member of VASTA.

Her articles have been widely published, including her essay in the March 2007 Devising issue of Theatre Topics, and the book “Movement For Actors” published by Allworth Press. 

She continues to be a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and has also served as a panelist and consultant for the Pew Charitable Trusts, the California Arts Council and TCG.