{"id":60204,"date":"2025-11-19T11:39:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T11:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/60204\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T11:39:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T11:39:11","slug":"dua-lipas-choreographer-invites-you-to-wiggle-and-let-your-inner-child-loose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/60204\/","title":{"rendered":"Dua Lipa’s choreographer invites you to wiggle and let your inner child loose"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On a Tuesday night in Atwater Village, Teresa \u201cToogie\u201d Barcelo<\/a> is creating a portal. With her arms stretched out, she beckons the participants of her movement workshop, Wiggle Room<\/a>, to join her on the other side, where they will meet a renewed version of themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalk into the next iteration of yourself,\u201d she commands. The participants, who have spent the last hour squirming, shaking and humming, cross the invisible threshold. Their limbs swing loosely, their smiling faces sticky with sweat.<\/p>\n

\"Teresa <\/p>\n

Teresa \u201cToogie\u201d Barcelo uses a wave drum during a Wiggle Room class at G-Son Studios. <\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Barcelo has been leading the L.A.-based movement class for almost a decade. As an accomplished choreographer and movement director, she has worked with pop stars such as Sabrina Carpenter, Harry Styles, St. Vincent, Troye Sivan and Dua Lipa \u2014 most notably choreographing Dua Lipa\u2019s hit music video \u201cNew Rules<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barcelo\u2019s success can be credited to her unique approach, which centers on well-being and embodiment. \u201cPeople call me the energy coordinator,\u201d she jokes. \u201cI\u2019m kind of an enigma in the commercial industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up in Miami, Barcelo felt disillusioned while pursuing a dance career in Los Angeles. Her early career was riddled with \u201ccattle-call auditions, getting an agent and sexy headshots. All the surface level things that you get told that you need to do in L.A. to be successful as a dancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Barcelo found freedom \u2014 and escape \u2014 in improvisation and freestyle dance. \u201cI saw an opportunity there. I want to teach improvisation in L.A. That\u2019s what I can give to this community,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

From there, Wiggle Room was born. What began as a sanctuary for dancers to explore improvisation evolved into something deeper. \u201cI started realizing that the class was really a healing space for a lot of people,\u201d Barcelo says. \u201cThere was really nowhere they could go to explore themselves as movers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon, Barcelo turned her attention to meditative practices, which she infused into her work as a choreographer and dancer. \u201cI got certified as a breath coach. I started leaning more into embodied practices, body connection and somatic therapy tools.\u201d Wiggle Room is a symbiotic marriage of dance and meditation. The result is a messy and stunning interaction of bodies. \u201cWe breathe. We move and we wiggle. We have meditative moments. It\u2019s a big swirl of play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiggle Room is accompanied by a live score performed by Joe Berry<\/a>, a member of the Grammy-nominated electronic group M83<\/a> and Barcelo\u2019s longtime partner. Barcelo invited Berry to collaborate on Wiggle Room early in their courtship. \u201cI grew up in dance classes with live accompaniment,\u201d says Barcelo. \u201cWhen we started dating, that was one of the first things that I asked Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"M83 <\/p>\n

M83 musician Joe Berry plays uses a blend of instruments, including synthesizers and sound bowls, to accompany the class. <\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Berry uses a blend of instruments \u2014 including saxophones, synthesizers and sound bowls \u2014 to craft the otherworldly, moody score. In class, a saxophone solo elicits cheers from the class. \u201cInstruments are taking instructions the same way the dancers are,\u201d he explains. A classically trained musician versed in jazz, classical and electronica, Berry describes his role as \u201ccomposing for people\u2019s emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berry\u2019s score is integral to the class\u2019 meditative ambience. \u201cThe live soundscapes that he was accidentally creating were these beautiful sound baths with ambient textures,\u201d says Barcelo.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Barcelo and Berry relocated to Joshua Tree. Still, Barcelo hosts Wiggle Room once a month in revolving venues in L.A. Most recently, she hosted the workshop at G-Son Studios<\/a> in Atwater Village, a former rehearsal space and recording studio for the Beastie Boys<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The class is inclusive to everyone, regardless of prior dance experience. \u201cThere are people who are visual artists \u2014 people who are not dancers and have no movement experience,\u201d says Barcelo. In Wiggle Room, the distinction between dancers and non-dancers dissolves and the inner child guides the way \u2014 instinct trumps technique.<\/p>\n

\"Wiggle <\/p>\n

Wiggle Room participants relax and wind down. <\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

To start the workshop, Barcelo emphasizes the importance of listening to the body. \u201cDo what feels right,\u201d she encourages. \u201cAllow your body to eat up all the space.\u201d In a high-pressure, frenetic society, Barcelo explains that moving the body acts as a release valve for trapped emotion.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of those moments are stored in the body as energy. When we wiggle, shake or move, we actually get that energy moving so that we can transmute, optimize it and transform it into creativity and beauty,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n

Barcelo hopes that the hour spent together highlights the importance of community. \u201cMoving with other bodies that are also going through emotionally complex lives \u2014 that shared experience is really healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2023, Barcelo distilled the mystical encounter of her class into a digital app, \u201ctoogie<\/a>.\u201d She calls it a digital toolbox filled with guided breath, meditation, somatic movement and visualization practices. \u201cIt\u2019s like having me in your pocket whenever you need a grounding friend,\u201d Barcelo says.<\/p>\n

Throughout the class, Barcelo provides mischievous direction and lighthearted cues. At one moment, she asks: \u201cWhat does it feel like to add a sprinkle of whimsy?\u201d At other moments, her advice is often mystical and ethereal as she paces the space with a smile. She points out the ongoing Jupiter retrograde and urges participants to \u201clet the parts that are inquisitive drive you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Felicia <\/p>\n

Felicia St. Cyr, 29, left, and Hunter Wayne Foster, 30, embrace during a Wiggle Room class. <\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Participant and professional dancer Brandon Galvan describes the class as transformative. \u201cEverything stops for a moment and brings you back to your home, which is your body. Being able to dive deep into that really takes you places \u2014 time lapses,\u201d Galvan says. \u201cI saw flashes of beautiful things.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the class winds down, Barcelo defines a word \u2014 pronoia, the belief that the universe is conspiring for your benefit. It\u2019s an easy perspective to adopt in her presence. According to Barcelo, \u201cWitnessing each other in a shared moment is healing.\u201d<\/p>\n