Josephine
has been a professional dancer and dance teacher since 1978. She first trained
in contemporary dance, which she both performed and taught for several years.
In 1981 she discovered Middle Eastern and Arabic Dance and trained in England
and Egypt over the next 4 years. She began performing in cabaret in 1983
and over a period of 7 years danced extensively for both Western and Middle
Eastern audiences. She has performed to audiences throughout Great Britain,
Europe, Egypt and the Middle East, including regular functions for several
Arabic royal families.
Since 1989, Josephine has returned to her theatrical roots as artistic director of her 2 dance companies, Sharqi and Masriat. With Masriat Dance Co. she has toured theatres in Great Britain. In 2000/2001 she choreographed the dance sequence and performed the solo in the opera 'Djamileh' by Bizet both at the Royal Opera House in London and Les Azuriales opera festival in Nice, France.
Since 1983 Josephine has developed a very distinct and accessible method of enabling Westeners to understand both the physical technique and the cultural intricacies of Egyptian dance (Raqs Sharqi). Josephine is also a teacher of the Alexander Technique and she uses Alexander principles in her dance teaching, particularly alignment of the spine and release in the muscles.
In 1990 she set up the Josephine Wise Academy of Arabic Dance (JWAAD) to promote the highest standards in Arabic dance. JWAAD runs a Teacher Training diploma course and organises the FANTASIA festival twice a year in London, together with an annual residential Summer School.