Welcome to the Montessori Dance Guide!
We combine dance and Montessori principles to nurture creativity and
self-expression.
Our workshops are for children, educators, and individuals with aphasia.
Led by Katarzyna Ustowska-Gmerek, M.A. in Dance Education.
Join us on this inspiring journey of movement and discovery.
Children do not know what their future work will be. But they know that they must prepare their instrument from the beginning. The purpose for which these instruments will be used is different for each person. This is the great importance of movement.
Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures
About Katarzyna Ustowska-Gmerek
dance educator, dancer and choreographer
Katarzyna holds a Master's degree in Contemporary Dance Education from The University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. She has over 10 years of experience facilitating dance in the Montessori educational context. She is collaborating with the Sopot Montessori School, where she currently leads dance classes for children aged 1.5-14. As a dance educator, she has also worked with the North Karelia College in Finland, University Justus Liebig in Giessen, University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main, Leeds Beckett University in the UK, Polish Montessori Association, and Polish Montessori Institute.
Katarzyna graduated from the State Ballet School in Gdansk, Poland in 2008. She furthered her education at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, UK, where she earned a Bachelor's degree with honors in Contemporary Dance in 2011. She also completed a Postgraduate Diploma in the Company Pathway, Verve, at NSCD. Throughout the UK and Europe, she extensively performed in works choreographed by Akram Khan, Milan Kozanek, and Lea Anderson.
In her professional work, she uses dance language to assist people suffering from aphasia in their recovery. She collaborates with
The In-between Words Foundation (PL) and Aphasia Recovery Connection (USA), helping individuals develop personal ways of moving and communicating ideas.
Katarzyna also works as an independent artist. She collaborates with The Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre and works with a group of independent Polish artists, Durski/Kania/Stanek/Ustowska. She engages in collaborative projects with other artists, spanning theatrical, dance, and film domains.
In 2020, she completed the People Dancing and Dance for PD® - Dance for Parkinson's introductory course. Currently, she is studying the method created by Anna Halprin through the Life/Art Process®, an integrated approach that explores the wisdom of the body expressed through movement, dance, and imagination, led by Ursula Schorn - Touching Ground.
