Joel Kioko was born and raised in Kuwinda, Kenya. He found his love for ballet through his cousin and Dance Center of Kenya in Nairobi where he started his training. In 2016 he got a scholarship that brought him to the United States for training. He later joined English National Ballet School where he graduated in 2020, and was invited to dance with the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company in the fall of 2021. Since then, he has danced with Milwaukee Ballet II for their 2023-2024 season, where he had the opportunity to dance in Michael Pinks Nutcracker and Cinderella. In the fall of 2024, he joined Dissonance Dance Theatre before joining Syracuse City Ballet, where he had the chance to perform in The Nutcracker and the remainder of the 2024-2025 season. This is Joel’s second season with Syracuse City Ballet.