Paromita Kar is a Toronto-based dance artist and the first to complete a PhD degree in Dance Studies in Canada (York University, Toronto). A performer of numerous world dance styles, she attributes her core training in dance to classical Indian Odissi dance, and is a student of Guru Durgacharan Ranbir of Orissa, India in the Debaprasad Das style of  Odissi dance, a history and theorization of which was  the subject of her  doctoral research work at York University.  

 

Paromita was introduced to Central Asian dance styles in 2008, when she worked under  a celebrated choreographer of Iran for the Toronto-Montreal-Ottawa tour of "Raghsi Chonin" (This Dance I Wish). She is an active fulltime performer of dances of Afghan, Tajik, Uzbek and Iranian heritages, as well as number of intercultural collaborations. In addition to live event performances and concerts, she also danced in and choreographed for a number of international music videos. She has performed and taught dance workshops in Canada, India, Netherlands, Czech Republic and the United States, and is also an international dance adjudicator/judge for dance competitions.

 

 

She is the choreographer and lead dancer of Ensemble Topaz,  Toronto-based integrated dance-music ensemble dedicated to   dance and music of Central and South Asia. 



Paromita is the recipient of grants from  Canada Council for the Arts,  Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Hamilton Arts Council, Shastri Indo-Canadian Fine Arts Fellowship for Dance, and the Lawrence Heisey Award for Fine Arts for Dance discipline (York University, 2009). 

 

While performing actively, Paromita is also actively involved in dance research and scholarship. She has presented her research at conferences such as the Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS) at Berkeley, California, and Peabody Institute, Maryland, the International Council for Traditional Music Conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, and Initiative for Romani Music Conference in New York City, Recombinant Creativity Conference at OCAD in Toronto.  She has also been published variously in international dance publications.