Tosia Bargiełowska Johnsen

My movement practice and research revolves around an ongoing interest into collective ecstatic dance experiences and trance-like states. I explore how bodily engagement with rhythm can not only help us understand grooves, but also serve as a way of ‘homecoming’ to one’s own body and roots, reconnecting with each other and with the universe. Primarily concerned with dance as a social activity, I would like to contribute to the practice of and discussions surrounding the inclusion of more bodies – and every-body – in various dance spaces and situations. I am always open to collaborations.

On top of my artistic practice, I am a dance access worker at Indepen-dance, a Zumba & Body Balance instructor and a silent discos' host.


SELECTED PERFORMANCES

- 'Walk, Hands, Eyes' by Myriam Lefkowitz, commissioned by Talbot Rice Gallery (Edinburgh),
- 'The Metamorphoses of Ovid' by mala voadora, commissioned by Hošek Contemporary (Berlin),
- RHYTHM by Tosia Bargiełowska Johnsen, commissioned by SHIFT:ibpcpa & Paadmaan Projects, performed at Edinburgh College of Art,
- B R I D G E by Tosia Bargiełowska Johnsen & Tamara Rogović, performed at Edinburgh College of Art, EMBASSY Gallery (Edinburgh), Generator Projects (Dundee),
- Folk, dance! by Tosia Bargiełowska Johnsen, performed at: The Wee Red Bar (Music for the Mind Festival vol.1), Pleasance Theatre (Music for the Mind Festival vol.2), The Fruitmarket Gallery, EMBASSY Gallery,
- Disappearing pile of stuff by Tosia Bargiełowska Johnsen, performed at The Patriothall Gallery (Edinburgh),
- 'Advice Bar (Expanded for the Times)' by Jacqueline Donachie, commissioned by The Fruitmarket Gallery.


EDUCATION

- MFA Contemporary Art Practice | Edinburgh College of Art | Degree show: 13 Days on (Exactly) One Half of Room C28
- MA Philosophy | The University of Edinburgh | Dissertations: 'Is feminism compatible with multiculturalism?' and 'The Aesthetic Appreciation of Natural Environments'