holly johnston is a movement artist, somatic ecologist, healer and community bonder. She is the Envisioning Director of RESPONSIVE BODY, a social movement and body liberation practice focused on cultivating skills of loving and being loved. With a deep commitment to social justice, holly believes in the transformative power of movement as a mode of healing and advocates for embodied learning through dancing, interpersonal connection and secure relationship building. As the founding Artistic Director of LEDGES AND BONES, holly has received awards for choreography, performance and costume design. As an educator in higher education she fosters critical thinking and teaches through a pedagogy of love and liberation. She works with CONTRA-TIEMPO Activist Dance Theater as a somatic ecologist centering operational systems around bodied health, wellness and sustainable vitality. Holly’s choreography has been described by the LA Times as “awe inspiring dance that leaves you breathless and wanting more”. Her new work “roots of loving us” created in collaboration with CONTRA-TIEMPO and Ana Maria Alvarez is supported by National Endowment for the Arts, NEFA/NDP grant, National Performance Network, Department of Cultural Affairs-Los Angeles, Culver City Performing Arts Grant, ArtPower/UCSD, University of Tampa/dance, and Shenandoah University. This multi-year, multi-dimensional dance project and performance event premieres Fall 2026.

Resourcing Sustainable Vitality for Dance Educators- a commitment to enacting care and caring for one another

Educators are absolutely necessary for our civilization and continuation as human beings. The demand of our labor, knowledge, expertise, time, artistry, problem solving, and muscularity knows no end inside our educational systems. I think it’s honest to say, “we’re exhausted!!!” AND as dance artists and educators we are tenacious and dedicated to creating spaces for all of us to learn and grow. How do we redistribute energies towards generating systems of care while also doing our work as educators? How can we build somatic-social communities rooted in love, care and dynamic empathy? Re-engineering our work places and professional relationships to humanize our work rather than industrialize our labor is one place to begin. We can start this by investing time and resources towards structuring professional development to include body-based wellness, health, and sustained vitality. Holly’s work is a biodynamic ecology of support for body-based resiliency, social connection, personal and professional development. Holly works with organizations, communities, families and individuals to increase a sense of belonging and understanding around health, healing and biological optimism through creative performances and trainings that express the importance of empathic connection and the part it plays in community health and social wellness.