Dance lessons help spread Castleton-on-Hudson woman’s generous spirit

Dance can be a powerful form of expression, and it can take you places you never thought you’d go. For Joy Barnard, it helps send her heart and spirit around the world, even if she can’t physically be there.

Barnard is anything but a lifelong dancer, but she is also anything but someone who sits still, so it fits her perfectly.

Barnard moved to the United States from the Philippines when she was 17. She once worked two full-time jobs. After her kids graduated from high school, she decided she wanted to do something for herself, so she started to dance.

Barnard continues to take lessons, but now she has her own dance studio with her husband Ron, called J&R Dance. The studio is now in its third year.

However, her greatest impact is as a fundraising force. Barnard’s weekly dances called “Dance with Joy” raise money for causes that are local and international reaching. Any money that comes in through ticket sales or raffles goes right back out, and then some. It helps fill the food pantry shelves at local churches, supports people in Ukraine and back home to kids in the Philippines.

Barnard ‘s latest fundraising effort is for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. One of the people she’s teaching now to dance for the event is NewsChannel 13’s Chris Onorato.

Learn what Barnard’s ultimate goal is, and where her heartstrings are pulling her by watching the video of Chris Onorato’s story.