Joan Woodbury graduated from the University of Wisconsin and became the first Fulbright Scholar in dance when she studied with Mary Wigman in Berlin, Germany in 1945. A retired professor of modern dance at the University of Utah where she taught for 47 years, Woodbury choreographed more than 100 works throughout her career, collaborated in the creation of 16 dance videos, and has been commissioned to choreograph by the Conservatoire National in Portugal, Outlet Dance Company in Australia, Desert Dance in Arizona, the University of Hawaii and Juillard School of Music plus many others. She has taught dance workshops and master classes throughout the United States as well as Portugal, France, Yugoslavia, China, Canada, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, England, Ireland, Singapore and Italy. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and has been honored by organizations across the world, including the prestigious French dictionary of dance, .

In 1964 Joan Woodbury founded Salt Lake City's Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company with fellow dancer and University of Utah professor Shirlie Ririe. The company has toured the world. Dedicated to educating children about the dance world, the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company offers not only formal and informal performances but also lectures, demonstrations, workshops and classes for all age groups in dance for actors, stage production and theater lighting. Joan Woodbury and Shirlie Ririe handed the artistic direction of the company over to Charlotte Boye-Christensen in 2008.