On a Tuesday night in Atwater Village, Teresa “Toogie” Barcelo is creating a portal. With her arms stretched out, she beckons the participants of her movement workshop, Wiggle Room, to join her on the other side, where they will meet a renewed version of themselves.
“Walk into the next iteration of yourself,” 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.
Teresa “Toogie” Barcelo uses a wave drum during a Wiggle Room class at G-Son Studios.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
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 — most notably choreographing Dua Lipa’s hit music video “New Rules.”
Barcelo’s success can be credited to her unique approach, which centers on well-being and embodiment. “People call me the energy coordinator,” she jokes. “I’m kind of an enigma in the commercial industry.”
Growing up in Miami, Barcelo felt disillusioned while pursuing a dance career in Los Angeles. Her early career was riddled with “cattle-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.”
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Barcelo found freedom — and escape — in improvisation and freestyle dance. “I saw an opportunity there. I want to teach improvisation in L.A. That’s what I can give to this community,” she says.
From there, Wiggle Room was born. What began as a sanctuary for dancers to explore improvisation evolved into something deeper. “I started realizing that the class was really a healing space for a lot of people,” Barcelo says. “There was really nowhere they could go to explore themselves as movers.”
Soon, Barcelo turned her attention to meditative practices, which she infused into her work as a choreographer and dancer. “I got certified as a breath coach. I started leaning more into embodied practices, body connection and somatic therapy tools.” Wiggle Room is a symbiotic marriage of dance and meditation. The result is a messy and stunning interaction of bodies. “We breathe. We move and we wiggle. We have meditative moments. It’s a big swirl of play.”
Wiggle Room is accompanied by a live score performed by Joe Berry, a member of the Grammy-nominated electronic group M83 and Barcelo’s longtime partner. Barcelo invited Berry to collaborate on Wiggle Room early in their courtship. “I grew up in dance classes with live accompaniment,” says Barcelo. “When we started dating, that was one of the first things that I asked Joe.”
M83 musician Joe Berry plays uses a blend of instruments, including synthesizers and sound bowls, to accompany the class.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Berry uses a blend of instruments — including saxophones, synthesizers and sound bowls — to craft the otherworldly, moody score. In class, a saxophone solo elicits cheers from the class. “Instruments are taking instructions the same way the dancers are,” he explains. A classically trained musician versed in jazz, classical and electronica, Berry describes his role as “composing for people’s emotions.”
Berry’s score is integral to the class’ meditative ambience. “The live soundscapes that he was accidentally creating were these beautiful sound baths with ambient textures,” says Barcelo.
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 in Atwater Village, a former rehearsal space and recording studio for the Beastie Boys.
The class is inclusive to everyone, regardless of prior dance experience. “There are people who are visual artists — people who are not dancers and have no movement experience,” says Barcelo. In Wiggle Room, the distinction between dancers and non-dancers dissolves and the inner child guides the way — instinct trumps technique.
Wiggle Room participants relax and wind down.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
To start the workshop, Barcelo emphasizes the importance of listening to the body. “Do what feels right,” she encourages. “Allow your body to eat up all the space.” In a high-pressure, frenetic society, Barcelo explains that moving the body acts as a release valve for trapped emotion.
“All 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,” she notes.
Barcelo hopes that the hour spent together highlights the importance of community. “Moving with other bodies that are also going through emotionally complex lives — that shared experience is really healing.”
In 2023, Barcelo distilled the mystical encounter of her class into a digital app, “toogie.” She calls it a digital toolbox filled with guided breath, meditation, somatic movement and visualization practices. “It’s like having me in your pocket whenever you need a grounding friend,” Barcelo says.
Throughout the class, Barcelo provides mischievous direction and lighthearted cues. At one moment, she asks: “What does it feel like to add a sprinkle of whimsy?” 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 “let the parts that are inquisitive drive you.”
Felicia St. Cyr, 29, left, and Hunter Wayne Foster, 30, embrace during a Wiggle Room class.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Participant and professional dancer Brandon Galvan describes the class as transformative. “Everything 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 — time lapses,” Galvan says. “I saw flashes of beautiful things.”
As the class winds down, Barcelo defines a word — pronoia, the belief that the universe is conspiring for your benefit. It’s an easy perspective to adopt in her presence. According to Barcelo, “Witnessing each other in a shared moment is healing.”
