Justyna Jasłowska is an artist dealing in contemporary dance, choreography, performance, and new media. In 200410 she danced with the Maat Project Theatre (Poland) and Campagne Le Sablier (France). She has co-founded and organised International Maat Festival (2010); she has also formed and coordinated Pracovnia OFF in Lublin (20072009).
Jasłowska holds an MA in sociology, but has also read culture studies. A graduate of physiotherapy at the Medical University of Lublin, she is a qualified Pilates instructor (1st and 2nd degree). She has learnt many dance and bodywork techniques i.e. butoh, contemporary dance, Body Mind Centering, Authentic Movement, Gaga by participating in numerous dance workshops and programmes in Poland and abroad. She has studied butoh at workshops with such artists as Sylwia Hanff, Atsushi Takenouchi, Daisuke Yoshimoto, and Katsura Kan. She has also trained Preying Mantis Kung Fu.
The artist worked with Maat Project Theatre from its inception in 2004 to 2011. She participated in every important initiative of the company, including My (Requiem) (2008) and Wake up in the evening (2010), presented at the Polish Dance Platform 2010.
She has collaborated with Sylwia Hanff’s Limen Body Theatre. She danced in Limbus złośliwie tajemniczy świat (Limbus: The Maliciously Mysterious World; 2006) and Ukiyo the floating world (2008). In 2005 she has also joined the Campagne La Sablier to perform in Gaspards. Enfant sauvage directed by Pascal Dubois, in France and Romania. She has participated in many outdoor theatre initiatives Kacpry in Poland, France, Romania and Africa.
Jasłowska creates her own choreographies, i.e. Spirale (Spirals; 2009), Kill Bill vol.0 (2010), Sztuka Pływania (The Art of Swimming; 2010), November (2011), Bye, bye kitty (2012), Sorry. I don’t like to be killed (2014). Conceptual dance pieces, Sztuka pływania and November qualified for the Baltic Movement Contest in 2011 and 2012.
She has collaborated with many artists: in 2009 she appeared in JesieńVivaldiego /4 pory roku metamorfozy lubelskie (Vivaldi Autumn / 4 Seasons Lublin Metamorphoses) of the Lublin Dance Theatre; in May 2009 she formed a duet with Dolar, a hip-hop artist, rapper, and freestyle champion. In June 2010, at Malta Festival, Jasłowska danced in a performance-action titled Przesilenie letnie (Summer Solstice) directed by Zorka Wollny and choreographed by Magda Przybysz. In June 2013 she created, together with musician Marcin Dymiter (Emiter) and visual artist Ludomir Franczak, the performance Josephine Baker. Rytmy oporu (Josephine Baker: Rhythms of Resistance), which premiered during the Lublin Night of Culture and was named one of three most interesting acts of the event. The work was presented at the Areowaves conference in Lublin in 2014.
In November 2013 Jasłowska’s performance action and we will have danced together, created together with experimental musician Robert Curgenven and visual artist Ludomir Franczak, premiered at the 17th International Dance Theatres Festival in Lublin. The piece is a reference to critical works created by the Judson Dance Theatre in New York in 196264.
Since 2014 Jasłowska has been collaborating with Italian choreographer and dancer Elisabetta Consonni. In March 2014 she performed in Consonni’s Ergonomic excursion: We want to become architecture. The piece was shown at Identity.Move! in Lublin and Theatre Confrontations in Lublin (2014).
A scholarship from the dance education programme for young choreographers Alternative Dance Academy (AAT), implemented as part of the project Old Brewery New Dance and coordinated by Joanna Leśnierowska, gave Jasłowska an opportunity to benefit from coaching provided by outstanding dance figures, such as Arkadi Zaides, Hooman Sharifi, Ria Hagler, Joseph Frucek, Stephanie Cumming, Chris Harring, Peter Player, Simone Aughterlony, Isabelle Schad, Johnattan Burrows, Bruno Pocheron, and Phillippe Blanchard.
In 2011 she took part in a residency programme Residency/Premiere of Gdańsk’s Club Żak. As part of the residency, she created with Wojciech Mochniej the performance November, which premiered in October 2012.
In 2014 Jasłowska received a dance scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, which allowed her to develop Sorry. I don’t like to be killed, which premiered in June 2014 in Lublin.
Jasłowska is the author of all choreographies and performances of the Children’s Dance Theatre affiliated with the Węglin Community Centre in Lublin. In June 2013 the centre hosted the premiere of Bolero. Remix, a solo choreographed by Jasłowska and performed by Agata Janczak, member of the Dance Theatre Group affiliated with the Węglin Community Centre. The piece draws on the famous Bolero performed by Sylvie Guillem.
In August 2014 Jasłowska took part in the LSS Residencies programme, working with mature women to create a performance-installation called Pod pretekstem tańca (On the Pretext of Dancing) touching upon the memory of place and local identity.
For a few years now Jasłowska has worked as choreographer for Lubelskie Czaderki, a dance and performance group consisting of mature women. She regularly teaches children, young people, and seniors on contemporary dance and improvisation.
Since 2008 she has run workshops on dance, choreography, and improvisation, drawing on her performing experiences and dance skills. She also runs physiotherapy workshops addressed mainly to dancers.
