Monika Szpunar is an independent dancer, performance artist and choreographer. She received her training in ACTS/ Ecole de Danse Contemporaine in Paris, London Contemporary Dance School and Unicamp University (Campinas, Brazil). Previously, she took dance classes at the Cracow Dance Academy LArt de la Danse. Having graduated from the Cracow Academy, she received the diploma confirming qualifications of a professional dancer granted by the Polish Actors Association (ZASP). She continues developing her skills by taking workshops led by David Zambrano, Milan Tomášik and Thomas Hauert, among others.
She collaborated with choreographers including Richard Siegal, Dam Van Huynh, Fernando Martins, Kaori Ito and Rafael Sahyoun. Currently, as a dancer and performance artist she cooperates with Kasia Witek (Memory Score), Elinor Lewis (Orchard), Weronika Pelczyńska (Still Standing and KULA, praktyki siostrzeństwa), and Agnieszka Glińska (Halka (wileńska)). She is also a co-founder of girl movement band called The Yonis, with whom she creates works and performs at such venues, as V&A Museum, The Yard, Stratford Circus Arts Center in London and numerous festivals, including Edinburgh Fringe, BrainChild, Contemporary Dance Festival SPACER in Cracow. She also makes her own performances and works as a movement director for various film and theatre productions.
She regularly teaches contemporary dance technique and improvisation classes in Poland and abroad, for different age groups and levels.
She is interested in bringing dance to new, unconventional spaces, and the meeting of dance with other disciplines, she often works with collective/collaborative projects.
