Joyce R

🪔 About

Joyce Kakariyil Paul is an accomplished Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam dancer, choreographer, exercise physiologist, and anthropologist. She received her initial Bharatanatyam training under Padmashri Leela Samson, with further instruction from Prof C.V. Chandrasekhar and Janardhanan Sir at Kalakshetra. Her formal dance education also took place at Sriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra and Gandharva Mahavidyalaya in New Delhi, commencing in 1986, following three years of informal training with local teachers. Paul began her teaching career in 1990, offering private Bharatanatyam classes with the blessings of Leela Samson. She also taught corporate clients from 1996 to 1998, focusing on communication through dance, and assisted in teaching Bharatanatyam at Kalashram Trust in New Delhi, founded by Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj. In 2001, she relocated to Redmond, Washington, to join Microsoft. Two years later, in 2003, she founded Arpan Performing Arts (also known as Arpan Dance Theatre or Arpan Arts), where she serves as its Creative Director. Through Arpan, she promotes Indian classical and folk traditions and aims to create next-generation dancers. Paul has performed extensively for over 17 years, with notable performances including "Dance to the Music" at Town Hall in 2003 and appearances at Utsav in 2004 and 2007. She was the first Indian-American Bharatanatyam dancer to be featured at Seattle's Town Hall and curated the "Incredible Dances of India" for the Northwest Folklife Festival. She has also served as a guest lecturer at the University of Washington and as adjunct faculty at Cornish College of the Arts. Her academic background includes a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from the Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi, specializing in the anthropology of performance, and she has published papers on dance-related injuries.