Joanna De Souza

Joanna De Souza (born October 22, 1955) is a Canadian Kathak choreographer, dancer and teacher. She is the only Canadian born artist to achieve a master's degree in kathak dance through the Prayag Sangit Samiti, Allahabad, India.[1]

Early life

De Souza was born and raised in Whitby, Ontario. She started studying piano at the age of five, and as a teenager, was a member of an award-winning classical vocal group for nine voices, under the directorship of Marian Williams. She studied figure skating throughout her childhood, but had no background in dance.

Education

After studying Forestry for one year at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, she moved to British Columbia, and then traveled to California in 1978, where she began studying Kathak under her first and current teacher, Pandit Chitresh Das. De Souza received her Bachelor's and master's degrees in kathak through the Prayag Sangeet Samiti, standing first in all of India.[2]

M-DO/Kathak Toronto

De Souza married tabla player, Ritesh Das in 1981. In 1988, they moved to Toronto and together, established M-DO/Kathak Toronto and the Toronto Tabla Ensemble. Since then, De Souza has been teaching Kathak to students in Toronto. She has performed all over Canada and India and has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards.[3] She is now married to bassist and composer, Ian De Souza.

References
  1. "Kathak Toronto - Joanna De Souza". Archived from the original on 25 September 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  2. Jain, Priyanka. "South Asian Generation". Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  3. "Toronto Tabla - Joanna De Souza". Toronto Tabla Ensemble. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
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