Mary Joyce Lind Thomas was the Founder of Iowa Dance Theatre. She was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa and was involved in dance from a very young age. Mary Joyce toured professionally in the Midwest and Canada as a teenager in the Dancing Debs, performing at fairs and for servicemen. She spent three years at Drake University as a Drama / Music Major. Mary Joyce taught dancing for 72 years. She owned and taught first at Mary Joyce Lind Dance Studio, directed and taught at Des Moines Ballet School for a brief period, then re-established her studio as Lind Dance School. Mary Joyce founded the Des Moines Civic Ballet Company in 1965 and continued as artistic director and choreographer until 1978. In 1982, she founded Iowa Dance Theatre and continued as artistic director and choreographer until she passed in 2015.