Performing Art – Washington, D.C.
Before birth, Joye was already an artist. She was born a visionary and became a dancer. Joye Thomas has been dancing since the age of three. She started her formal training a couple years later at the Russell School of Ballet, home of the Fairfax Ballet, in Chantilly, Virginia. After Joye was asked to be in their company, she had the opportunity to perform at numerous venues such as George Mason Center for the Arts, Joy of Motion, and Dance Place. She danced in works by Tony Powell and Lucy Bowen-McCaley. During her last two years of high school she had the opportunity to take a dance class at the Fairfax County School for Communications and the Arts, under the tutelage of Melanie Lalande. After graduating high school Joye went on to attend Point Park University, for dance, under the teachings of Nicolas Petrov and Judith Leifer- Bentz. After a year and a half she left college, to find her way through the world without dance. Funny, because the second she tried to leave the dance world it came pulling her back in. Thats when her mentor, Melanie Lalande, started—Mayzsoul. Mayzsoul is a nonprofit dance company with a mission to create and grow a community of artists and dancers that will continue artistic exploration and education while producing quality performances throughout the DC metropolitan area, the country, and ultimately abroad. In December 2011, Joye was dubbed Artistic Driector for Mayzsoul. While Artistic Director, her goal is to push the company further than they’ve ever gone, motivate, educate, and create original and groundbreaking work.
\"The dysfunctional environment from my childhood to adulthood has embedded a unique, sick, ironic, joyful, and tell-it-as-it-is aspect to my work. Pulling from my disfigured traits, I produce coherent and meaningful work. From adolescence, I never cemented my artistic style, but once I developed my creative being, I found something unexpected. The combination of idiosyncrasies I can produce, and the further I dig into my soul, something remarkable happens. While I set a joyous tone, I explore deep-rooted issues. My style is a highly developed and advanced type of sarcasm.\" (Joye Thomas)