If ever a name reflected a personality, this one is it: Joy. Joy Williams started dancing at age 4 or 5. Her face lights up when she tells of her years studying dance, traveling to other countries to learn the native moves, soaking in the steps, the twists and turns, the magic that each dance possesses, and now, teaching others. Williams easily leads a group of women through the African dance steps. Loosen your shoulders. Get down lower. Do what you feel. There is no right or wrong way, you will find your own way. Relax. Enjoy. The women move and sway and laugh and in no time this group looks like they've been doing it forever. This was their first lesson, filled with joy. Joy is a dancer, choreographer and teacher, who participated in the 2007 American Dance Festival. In addition to the African Dance class she taught on this day, she also works with the Duke dance department. Don't let the name of her dance website, Dance Chapel Hill, mislead you, it's currently located in Carrboro off Pleasant St., another name that fits. Inside the Fellowship Hall at Church of the Harvest (100A Hillview St.) is where Williams follows her destiny, in dance. She couldn't be happier. Her smile is infectious as she welcomes her students into the room.  
Joy grew up in Orange County. Around the age of 8, her father began leading her toward sports. While she enjoyed playing sports, by the time she entered Orange High, she missed the wonderful excitement she found in dance."I remembered the feeling of moving and wanted to feel that sensation again," said Williams. "I graduated in 1998 and decided to go to a boarding school for a year. My good friend was a dancer and lived on my hall. It was through our friendship that she encouraged me to try out for the dance team. I got in and that is how I started dancing again." In her freshman year at Wheaton College, Joy started a dance team known as TRYBE, now a decade old. TRYBE promotes cultural exposure and learning through dance. She traveled to Spain, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mali, and Guatemala during college, developing her own unique style of dance, learning and teaching along the way. 
Williams moved to Boston, where she learned about social problems plaguing our own country as she worked in a soup kitchen. She studied ballet with Anna Myer, working with her modern dance company, and interned a summer at Boston Ballet in their city dance program. She applied for and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Columbia."I stayed an extra six months after the grant ended, continuing with my theme of studying political and social themes through folklore dance," said Joy. "I came back to the States in December of 2006, and that following summer worked as an intern for ADF and started working with Chuck Davis' company. I'm back again with ADF and love it! I'm headed to Mali this August and love every minute of being where I am." Williams is having a fundraiser July 7th, 2008 at the Church of the Harvest, 100A Hillview St. in Carrboro, for her trip to Mali. She will talk about her travels and endeavors. It starts at 7pm and is open to the public. For more information email dancechapelhill@gmail.com. For more information about classes offered, times, prices and more, click here for Joy's website: Dance Chapel Hill. Below are links to pertaining to Joy's time in Colombia. Mali Trip Update - July 25, 2008 Press Release Downtown Carrboro Map | Events | Prices | Restaurants | UniqueOrn Enterprises 
|