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  the celebrated Farzaneh Kaboli 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 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 and Afghan music videos. In the area of South Asian dance, Paromita performs classical Odissi, dances of Rajasthan as well as commercial Bollywood dances. She has performed in Canada, India, Netherlands, Czech Republic and the United States. 

 

 

She is the choreographer and lead dancer of Ensemble Topaz,  Toronto-based integrated dance-music ensemble dedicated to deep study and performance of dance and music of Central and South Asia, which she co-founded with her husband, composer Mike Anklewicz. 



Paromita is the recipient of Canada Council Grant to Professional Dancers (2015),  Ontario Arts Council Artist in Education (2016), Chalmer's Fellowship (Ontario Arts Council, 2016), Shastri Indo-Canadian Fine Arts Fellowship for Dance (2012), and the Lawrence Heisey Award for Fine Arts for Dance discipline (York University, 2009), and an Ontario Arts Council grant (2019-2020) to pursue professional development in Iranian dance. Her company Ensemble Topaz is the recipient of Ontario Arts Council Dance Training Projects: Equity and Access (2020) and Ontario Arts Council Music Recording grant (2019). 

 

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.