CHARLES JOSEPH SMITH is not only a versatile dancer, but he is also a poet, composer, musician, visual artist and spoken word artist. There were several inspirations that led him to discover dance--mainly established dancers like Debbie Allen, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Sandra Bernhard.
He was involved as a contemporary dancer/experimental musician in Chicago's version of the John Cage Musicircus--one at the Museum for Contemporary Art in September 2005, and the other at the Chicago Cultural Center in October 2007. In addition, he succesfully completed a Spring 2008 Field Trips workshop at Links Hall, curated by Judith Harding, where he introduced six works-in-progress dances to a select group of dance participants, and was accepted for performance in his first non-curated dance marathon, Field Trips, at the Hamlin Park Fieldhouse in Chicago in May 2008, where he performed his choreographed dance piece, "Linden Love".
Charles often does performance art dancing in private venues as well as public venues, mainly for counterculturalists and permaculturists. His clients included Bethany Ruth Cooper, Joseph Futrelle, Melodye and Giraldo Rosales, Carol Huang and Mark Enslin, and Anne Jazzmin. Charles had also used performance art dancing in over 10 major protests and political demonstration events; most recently, he was involved in one dance during the Immigration Rally at Daley Plaza in Chicago on May 1, 2008.
His current dances incorporate a mixture of classical dance and contemporary dance styles, particularly modern and performance art, and some focus on his use of found objects, such as winter accessories.