- 2021 – founded The Empowered Dancers platform
- 2015 – founded Munich Latin Dance Academy
- 2013 – 2015 Studied Dance and Performative Arts in Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance in Munich, Germany
- 2013 – Bachelors degree in Drama at Machulsky Drama School in Warsaw, Poland
- 2013 – Debut in the famous Polish television series Na Dobre i na Zle
- 2012 – Finalist of TV Show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ in Poland, bringing Brazilian Zouk to national television in Poland for the first time
- 2011 – Certified dance instructor by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland
- 2009 – Masters degree in European Law at University of Warsaw
Joanna Zwierzyńska
Joanna Zwierzyńska is a professional dancer, dance instructor, choreographer, and actress. She has taught dance in over 30 countries, and has been teaching, performing, and dancing her heart out at international zouk festivals for over 10 years. She pioneered zouk in Poland in 2011 in Warsaw, and she is a qualified judge of the Brazilian Zouk Dance Council.
She has taught zouk together with Pasty, Kamacho, and William dos Santos, and in recent years found success and immense pride in teaching popular solo follower classes at international festivals, attracting zoukers wanting to learn her unique and expressive style of dancing in order to enhance their partner dancing.
Joanna danced soon after she was able to walk, and started formal dance training at age 9. She achieved success with international 10-dance ballroom dancing and competed for 6 years. She then expanded her dance repertoire and trained in techniques including hip-hop, jazz, ballet and contemporary. She fell in love with salsa in 2008 during her Law studies in France, which led to her discovering zouk in 2011. Pasty became her first zouk teacher, and they soon started a collaboration leading to Joanna’s participation in the Polish edition of So You Think You Can Dance television show, popularising zouk in Poland and significantly expanding the Polish zouk scene. Today, Poland has one of the largest and most technically proficient zouk scenes in the world and is host to one of the biggest and most-loved zouk festivals globally – the Warsaw Zouk Festival.
In 2010 Joanna started studying acting, another passion close to her heart, at Machulsky Drama School in Warsaw, Poland. She soon realised that acting and dancing were two sides of the same coin for her in terms of expressing herself authentically and that became her artistic path. She further pursued her studies in dance and performative arts at Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance in Munich, Germany. In her spare time, she built a zouk scene in Munich and founded the Munich Latin Dance Academy.
During this very busy time studying, performing, and teaching, she suffered a serious hip injury which required surgery. Her post-surgery rehabilitation working with physiotherapists, personal trainers, yoga teachers, and meditation practitioners made her realise that there are smarter ways to prepare one’s body and mind for the stage and the social dancefloor, so that dance can be enjoyed in comfort and joy well into old age. The above concern and need to share the knowledge of a mindful and healthy dancer gave birth to The Empowered Dancers (ted) platform.
Joanna was born in Warsaw, Poland. She speaks five languages and currently resides in London, United Kingdom.