holly johnston is a movement artist, dance educator and somatic specialist whose work lives at the intersection of choreography, embodied research and community-based wellness. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Choreography and a Bachelor of Arts in Dance, and has taught extensively in higher education, including University of California–San Diego, California State University–Fullerton, Loyola Marymount University, Chapman University and California State University–Long Beach.

johnston’s artistic practice is grounded in somatic phenomenology, movement analysis and trauma-informed pedagogy, approaching dance as both an aesthetic inquiry and a social practice. As founder and envisioning director of RESPONSIVE BODY, she leads body liberation practices that integrate movement research, care ethics and collective healing. Since 2022, she has served as somatic ecologist with CONTRA-TIEMPO Activist Dance Theater, providing embodied wellness support, creative collaboration and somatic-social practice development for artists and communities.

Her choreographic work has been commissioned by universities, festivals and professional companies across the United States and internationally, supported by organizations including NEFA/NDP, NPN, the Department of Cultural Affairs–Los Angeles and the Culver City Cultural Affairs Division. A former Dance Magazine “25 to Watch” artist and Lester Horton Award recipient, johnston continues to research how movement can cultivate belonging, disrupt systems of body-based oppression and generate cultures of care through artistic practice.