Joseph Victor Gonzales


Joseph Victor Gonzales is a Malaysian choreographer and dance educator professionally known as Joseph Gonzales.
Gonzales is the brother of Datin Freda Sabapathy, former national sprinter and now advocate. His brothers-in-law include her husband former Olympic field hockey player Datuk Arumugam Sabapathy and the retired Malaysian ambassador to Italy, Dato’ Ramanathan Vengadesan. He is also the uncle of writer and journalist Martin Vengadesan.

Dancing and teaching activities

Gonzales began dancing as a student. From 1981 to 1984, he was part of the choreographic ensemble Kesuma at the University of Malaya and the Frances Ballet Academy. From 1984 to 1986, he danced with the Federal Academy of Ballet. From 1992 to 1994, he taught ballet, modern dance, tap, and jazz dance at the Federal Academy of Ballet.
Gonzales also served as Assistant Artistic Director to for the Kuala Lumpur Dance Theatre. In 1994, he began working as a lecturer at the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage, becoming Dean of the Faculty of Dance in 1998, a position he held until 2015. At ASWARA, Gonzales developed a curriculum that included Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Western dance forms. According to The Star Online, this approach aimed to reflect Malaysia's diverse cultural heritage and equip students with broad technical proficiency.
Gonzales served as the president of My Dance Alliance, co-chairman of the Asian Dance Committee in Seoul, South Korea, and adjudicator for the Singapore Youth Festival and Sprouts, a young choreographers’ platform in Singapore. He also held the role of vice-president of the South East Asia World Dance Alliance.
In 2016, he was appointed as a professor and head of Academic Studies/MFA Program Leader in Dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
In 2025, he returned to Kuala Lumpur to helm the ASK Dance Company. The latest production of Malay dance "Setanggi Tari Melayu" was staged at the Petaling Jaya Performing Arts Centre.

Works

At ASWARA, Gonzales produced productions featuring traditional dances and multicultural identities, such as Main Zapin, Tapestry, Asyik, Crossing Borders in Bharatanatyam, and Hang Li Po. He was also the artistic director of the international Tari series, a festival of international universities of the arts from 1998–2014.
Other productions included: P. Ramlee, Musical at the Palace of Culture in Kuala Lumpur, Hamlet, Passion at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, Rhythms in Bronze, The Two, Rise at the Penang Centre for the Performing Arts, Enter/Exit, Suara, The Last Tea Party for ASWARA, Becoming King... The Pakyung Revisited, and Seru.
In 2011, he established ASK Dance Company, a professional dance company that presents performances in Malaysia and at international festivals.

Awards

  • "Cross-cultural Champion of the Arts"
  • "Best Music & Sound Design"
  • "Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Dance"
  • "Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Dance"
  • "Outstanding Service"
  • "Best Choreographer of the Year"
  • "Game-changer of the Year"
  • "Lifetime Achievement in the Arts" - Sugam Arts and Heritage Foundation, 2024.
  • "Tokoh Seni KL" - Department of Culture and Arts 2025.

Publications

  • Forging Traditional Dance in Malaysia
  • Makyung in Contemporary Malaysia: Strategies for Preservation and Proliferation
  • Dancing the Malaysian
  • Dancing Mosaic: Issues On Dance Hybridity
  • South East Asia Report
  • Malaysian Dancescapes
  • ''Koreografi Kontemporari Malaysia''