Joel Claesson started his dance training in Sweden, during his first degree at Pederskrivare Gymnasium, Sweden - Aesthectic Studies: Dance, he danced for choreographers like Ivo Cramér and Carl Olof Berg. After finishing he joined the BA(Hons) course at Laban Contemporary, where he finished with a 1st in 2009.

In 2008 he danced ID with Leila McMillan Dance Company and whilst training at Laban he performed in works by Merce Cunningham, Kerry Nicholls, Gary Lambert, Liz Alpe and Marina Collard.