About Us

Paradosi Ballet Company is a full-time touring ballet company that utilizes dance as a ministry tool for evangelism and worship in the United States and abroad.  The ministry is the Pacific Northwest's first professional Christian Ballet Company that was founded in 2007 by Joel and Tennille Carver with the purpose of sharing the love of Jesus Christ through dance, drama, and personal witness. Paradosi has been blessed to partner with hundreds of ministries throughout the US and Internationally sharing the good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through the arts!


The dancers all have a passion for the Lord and instead of entering the entertainment world, they chose to use their gifts and talents to lead His people in worship and to be used in evangelistic events to draw people to Him.   The members of the ministry do not want to be seen as entertainers but rather as worship leaders ushering in the presence of the Lord and encouraging people to seek a personal relationship with Him!  


Paradosi currently dances in a wide variety of venues such as churches, conferences, theaters, fairs, festivals, schools, shelters, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, and even on street corners. While the ministries primary focus is on the West Coast of the United States the company has toured extensively across the United States and throughout Europe proclaiming the name of Jesus to the world. 

Why Ballet

The arts have the unique ability to cross social, language, economic, and cultural boundaries like no other medium. Using dance in worship and as a ministry tool opens doors that might never otherwise be opened to share the Gospel and reach the lost.  


When Paradosi dances during evangelistic programs people stop, watch, listen, and often start asking questions; questions that may change their life forever. 


When Paradosi dances in a church, it is our hope that we may lead God's people in worship in a way that they never thought possible.  It is our hope that the congregants will have an encounter with God that transcends their understanding of His immense love for all of us.  We want people to experience a deepness in their connection with God and realize that anything that they do can be surrendered back to the Lord in worship.  

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


During the first year of ministry Paradosi received 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 Trainee Program to mentor, disciple, and train the next generation of Christian artists 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 ministry leaders and are excited to see how the Lord will continue to use Paradosi in the years to come.