Joseph Hetzer started his classical training at South Bay Ballet in Torrance, California before becoming a member of the inaugural class at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. While in school, Hetzer worked closely with William Forsythe on both his classical works and new creations, dove into different genres and movement styles, and performed on three continents.

Hetzer joined Oklahoma City Ballet as a corps de ballet member in 2019 and was recently promoted to soloist in 2023. During his time in OKC, he has performed featured roles including: Mad Hatter/Lewis Carroll in Septime Webre's ALICE (in wonderland), Gaston and the Baron in Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias, and Holiday Couple in Michael Pink's Dracula. Hetzer has also performed Jerome Robbins's 2 & 3 Part Inventions, the trio in Jessica Lang's To Familiar Spaces in Dream, Twyla Tharp’s The Golden Section, Sarah Tallman’s Love in a Jukebox, and George Balanchine’s Western Symphony. One of his favorite experiences was working with Penny Saunders on the creation of Jump Cut, which never premiered in Oklahoma due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Outside of ballet, Hetzer is also a Lululemon Ambassador, spin instructor at Cyclebar Classen Curve, and teacher at Kim Massay Dance Productions. In 2022 he was a recipient of Oklahoma's “NextGenerationUnder 30” for the Arts.