Joanna De Souza (born October 22, 1955) is a Canadian

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

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 Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Early life

De Souza was born and raised in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. 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 Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, grad ...

in Thunder Bay, she moved to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, 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.

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. She is now married to bassist and composer, Ian De Souza.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Souza, Joanna 1955 births Living people Canadian choreographers Dance teachers Kathak exponents People from Whitby, Ontario Performers of Indian classical dance Canadian women choreographers