​

​

About Kasia Ustowska-Gmerek

dance educator, dancer and choreographer

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Kasia Ustowska-Gmerek is a graduate of the State Ballet School in Poland, Northern School of Contemporary Dance (BPA Hons, Contemporary Dance and Postgraduate Diploma) and Frankfurt's University of Music and Performing Arts (MA Contemporary Dance Education). Kasia works as a dance artist, choreographer, and dance educator. She is a founder of The Montessori Dance Guide, an approach to creative dance aligned with Montessori principles.

Kasia has over ten years of experience delivering dance education for people of all ages within a Montessori educational context. She researches ways of developing dance aligned within Montessori education, helping individuals develop personal ways of moving and communicating ideas.

She collaborates with Sopot Montessori School (PL), Aphasia Recovery Connections (USA) and the In between Words Foundation (PL) supporting the recovery of stroke survivors through curated dance practices. 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, Polish Montessori Association, and Polish Montessori Institute. Alonside her work as an educator she also works as an independent dance artist. She collaborates with The Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre, continously since 2013 and engages in collaborative projects with other artists, spanning theatrical, dance, and film domains.

 

Recently, Kasia presented her practice research at the AMI International Conference in Thailand (2023) and Montessori Europe Annual Conference in Amsterdam (2022). She has completed the People Dancing and Dance for PD® - Dance for Parkinson's introductory course (2020) and the Montessori for Dementia, Disability & Ageing course (2023). Currently, she is studying the Anna Halprin’s Life/Art Process® led by Ursula Schorn - Touching Ground (DE).
 

​