The Montessori Dance Guide provides the opportunities for unique expression and individual creativity through dance.
MDG offers workshops for children, educators and people with aphasia that integrate dance with Montessori principles.
Created and facilitated by Katarzyna Ustowska-Gmerek,
M.A. Dance Education
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 is qualified with Master in Contamporary Dance Education from The Univerity of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main in Germany. She has over 10 years of experience in facilitating dance in the Montessori educational context. Since over 15 years she collaborates with the Sopot Montessori School, where she currently leads dance classes for children aged 1,5-14. As a dance educator she 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 UK, Polish Montessori Association, Polish Montessori Institute.
Katarzyna graduated from the State Ballet School in Gdansk in Poland (2008), the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, UK (BPA hons in Contemporary Dance, 2011), and the Postgraduate Diploma (Company Pathway, Verve, at NSCD), where she performed extensevly throught UK and Europe in works choreographed by Akram Khan, Milan Kozanek and Lea Anderson.
She works with with people suffering from aphasia at The In-between Words Foundation (PL) and Aphasia Recovery Connection (USA) using dance language to assist their recovery through developing personal ways of moving and comunicating ideas.
Katarzyna works pararelly as a independent artist. For the past 10 years she continously collaborated with The Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre and worked with a group of independent polish artists Durski/Kania/Stanek/Ustowska. She works collaborativly with other artists on theatrical, dance and film projects.
She completed People Dancing and Dance for PD® - Dance for Parkinson’s introductory course (2020). Currently she studies 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.
