Parisa Khobdeh

Parisa Khobdeh, an internationally renowned dancer who starred with the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 2003 to 2019, was born and raised in Dallas, TX. She created and performed principal and supporting roles in more than 100 Taylor dances and worked with such notable choreographers as Kyle Abraham, Bryan Arias, Doug Elkins, Margie Gillis, David Grenke, Larry Keigwin, Pam Tanowitz, Doug Varone and Lila York. In 2006, she was featured in Dance Magazine as a performer “On the Rise.” She appeared on the cover of the magazine’s December 2012 issue, subtitled “Magical and Mercurial,” and penned the articles “Why I Dance, What Paul Taylor Has Taught Me” and “Why It’s Important to Come Back From Injury on Your Own Terms.” Khobdeh was featured in Taylor in Paris for PBS’s “Great Performances” and in the award-winning documentary Paul Taylor: Creative Domain. Her extensive body of work as a Taylor dancer earned her a nomination for the prestigious New York Dance and Performance Award (“The Bessie”).

While dancing with the Taylor Company, Khobdeh established a vehicle for her own creative output, Parisa Khobdeh Dance. Her company has appeared at Grace Farms in New Canaan, CT, HERE Arts Center in New York City, Teatro de las Artes in Mexico City, Judson Church, and the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in Richardson, TX. In summer 2026, her work Traces: of Past, of Present, of Future returned to New York City in celebration of its 10th anniversary, performed by SMU alumni Alec Marianek and Limón Dance Company dancer Deepa Liegel.

Acclaimed as a répétiteur, choreographer, teacher, and lecturer, Khobdeh received her B.F.A. in Dance Performance from SMU, dancing the works of Agnes de Mille, Robert Battle, Lester Horton, Judith Jamison, Donald McKayle and Martha Graham. After attending the American Dance Festival on a Tom Adams & Gayle Halperin scholarship, she debuted at ADF in 2003 with the Taylor Company.

Khobdeh has lectured at Oxford University for Dance Scholarship at Oxford in the United Kingdom and at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. She has re-staged Taylor dances at William and Mary, Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Danza, and Newcastle College with Eliot Smith Dance. She has also choreographed dances to benefit human rights organizations and for independent films.

Khobdeh returned to Dallas from London to join the faculty of the Division of Dance at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, first as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Practice and now as Assistant Professor of Practice. At SMU, she has re-staged Paul Taylor’s Esplanade, assisted Robert Battle on the premiere of his newest work, and co-directed the Division of Theatre’s production of Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play. She returned to the American Dance Festival in summer 2024 as an ADF Samuel H. Scripps Scholar and was invited to serve on the alumni advisory committee for the Board of Directors. Her choreography Mezzanotte premiered at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in 2025.

Khobdeh is currently pursuing a low-residency M.F.A. at Bennington College, where she is a recipient of the Ulysses Dove Award. Her ongoing research and creative practice investigates dance pedagogy, choreographic practice, embodied knowledge and the transmission and preservation of modern dance.

In partnership with the Meadows Museum and the George W. Bush Presidential Library, Khobdeh launched an inaugural student matinee at SMU, bringing more than 350 preschool, elementary, and high school students, including students from Title I schools, to campus for a special dance performance and arts experience. Supported by a grant from Texas Women for the Arts, the initiative will continue during the 2026–27 academic year, expanding access to dance and the arts for young people across the Dallas community.