About Us

Our Mission


Through the Arts we will Worship God, Love People, Share the Gospel, 

and Make Disciples of Jesus Everywhere We Go!


Paradosi Ballet Company is a touring Christian dance ministry that uses ballet as a ministry tool for leading worship and evangelism. The ministry is the Pacific Northwest's first professional Christian ballet company that was founded in 2007 with the goal of sharing the love, hope, and beauty of Jesus Christ through dance and personal witness. 


The word Paradosi comes from the Greek word Paradosis which means: "to give over" or in other words "to surrender".  The dancers in the ministry are all full-time volunteers who have a deep love for Jesus and sharing His message of hope with the world. Instead of going into the entertainment industry, they have chosen to surrender their talents and gifts in dance back to Jesus in worship. Their hearts desire is that everyone will come to know Jesus and they have made it their mission to share His life-giving and life-changing message of hope!


Paradosi dances in worship at a wide variety of venues such as churches, schools, ministry conferences, fairs, festivals, ministry fundraisers, homeless shelters, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, and even on street corners. 

Dance in Worship

It is our desire to pursue excellence in the arts for Jesus and to give it back to Him in praise for who He is and what He has done.  When we dance in worship, we are acknowledging that He is our creator and through our dancing we are reflecting back to Him what He has so freely given to us.  


As we are a ministry focused on worshipping Jesus of the Christian Bible we share worship programs, not story ballets.


We call what we do "programs" and not "performances".   The purpose of a performance is to entertain, the purpose of what we do is to worship.  Our mission is that "Through the arts we will Worship God, Love People, Share the Gospel, and Make Disciples of Jesus everywhere we go."   Everything that we do as an organization is to fulfill this mission.  When Paradosi dances in worship it is our hope that people will see a tiny glimpse of the love, hope, and beauty of Jesus and want to experience it for themselves.  When we dance in worship, we are creating space for the Holy Spirit to speak to the hearts of those who are watching and worshipping with us.   We do not dance to be entertainers, but to worship God and to lead others in worshipping Him.   Everything comes down to Worship!  


"But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 4:23-24


Dance as a Ministry Tool

The arts have the ability to cross social, economic, cultural, and language barriers like no other medium.  When Paradosi dances in worship during outreach events people stop, watch, listen, and often start asking questions; questions that will change their life forever.  


Whether we are dancing in worship on a street corner or in a church before someone who does not know Jesus, they often want to know why we are doing what we are doing. They want to know where this joy is coming from that they are seeing on our faces. They want to know what this peace is that they are experiencing. They want to know why the tears are streaming down their faces.  They want to know if we believe the message that was shared. They simply want to know more.  


When these questions are asked, the door is opened wide for us to share who Jesus is, what He has done in our lives, and what He has done for them.   We want to reach people for God and He has given us this beautiful and powerful tool of dance to quiet peoples minds making room for the Holy Spirit to enter.  We consider it a privilege to be used by God as ambassadors of His hope and are excited for the opportunities that He will provide for us to continue sharing His love with the world in the season ahead! 

Discipleship Through Dance Education

In 2009 we saw a need for God honoring dance education in the Pacific Northwest and as such we launched our dance school, Surrendered School of Dance. The dance school is an integral part of fulfilling the mission of our organization helping us to reach the next generation for Jesus through the arts. 


Our vision for the school is to provide quality dance instruction for every student while encouraging love, kindness, and joy in the world as a catalyst for positive change, developing a deeper appreciation for dance, while encouraging worship, movements, and motivations that glorify our Creator.  When we teach students how to dance, it is to teach them to not only grow in the arts but to see how they can use their dancing to worship God. 


While we are a religious organization, the school is open to all in the community regardless of their beliefs.  We do not hide our faith and express it freely through prayer, the reading of Bible scriptures, and worshipping God through dance. 

Our History

Founders Joel & Tennille Carver


How It All Began

Before starting Paradosi, founders Joel and Tennille Carver both ministered with Ballet Magnificat, the world’s premier Christian Ballet Company located in Jackson, Mississippi. 


While serving at Ballet Magnificat, Tennille was blessed to be mentored by Director Kathy Thibodeaux and after three years of training and dancing she began teaching in the ministries school of the arts. During her tenure, she helped to develop Ballet Magnificat's Trainee Program overseeing thirty college aged students while directing Ballet Magnificat II for six years. 


After ten years of service in that ministry, Joel and Tennille felt God calling them back to the Pacific Northwest where they were both born and raised.  With the Carver's having a deep passion for the Pacific Northwest, the arts, and most importantly for their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they began the process of forming Paradosi.  After two years of preparation, counsel, and recruiting, the plans fell into place and Paradosi came to life in August of 2007.  


During the first year of ministry, Paradosi received Christian ballet dancers from all over the country with the same passion as the Carver's to worship the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength as well as present the gospel of Jesus Christ through dance, drama, and personal witness.    As additional talent and resources came alongside of Paradosi, the ministry started a school of the arts and a Christian Ballet Trainee Program to mentor, disciple, and equip the next generation of Christian dancers to glorify the Lord through dance.  


After eight-years of faithful service as the Directors of Paradosi, the Lord placed it upon the Carver's to focus on their family and they stepped aside to let the next generation of leaders carry the ministry into the next decade.  The Carver's still serve as council to the Christian dance companies leaders and are excited to see how the Lord will continue to use Paradosi in the years to come.