Gumowska, Ilona Maria
Dancer, choreographer, dance tutor, and psychologist; graduate of the Institute of Choreography and Dance Techniques at the Academy (now the Bacewicz University) of Music in Łódź, where she is currently a teacher and faculty member. She was a competitive rhythmic gymnast. Since 2007 she has focused on contemporary dance. Her tutors have included Jacek Owczarek, Witold Jurewicz, Iwona Olszowska, Peter Jaško, Anton Lachky, Martin Kilvády, Jozef Fruck, Andrew Morrish, and Rakesh Sukesh. As a dancer she has collaborated with such artists as Daniel Abreu, Roberto Olivan, Marcin Wrona, Tomasz Wygoda, Mariusz Treliński, Natasha Gilmore, Abhilash Ningappa, Jacek Owczarek, Kaya Kołodziejczyk, Jacek Gębura, Karolina Kroczak, Ashley Lobo, Michał Walczak, and Jacek Przybyłowicz, among others. She has appeared on many Polish and foreign stages, including the ROZBARK Theatre in Bytom, the Royal Opera House in Mumbai, La Monnaie opera house in Brussels, the Theater an der Wien, and Stockholm’s Royal Swedish Opera. In 2017 she began her collaboration with Zawirowania Dance Theatre in Warsaw. Since 2018, she has performed at the Grand Theatre – Polish National Opera in Warsaw. She also dances in Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballet.
Gumowska’s educational work includes workshops on contemporary dance, improvisation, composition, and floorwork with acrobatic elements, held in Poland and abroad. As a dancer she demonstrates a fascination with strong physical and enhanced presence, exploring the extremes of corporality and balancing between what is familiar-comfortable and what is risky and still waiting to be discovered.