COUNTERTECHNIQUE: WORKING WITH AN EVER-CHANGING BODY
by Anouk van Dijk
About the workshop:
This workshop with Anouk van Dijk will introduce Countertechnique, the movement system she developed over the past 25 years to provide dancers with applied tools for a versatile dance practice in the 21st century – focusing on the process of incorporating information into action. This five-day workshop consists of three parts: a Countertechnique class, a Practical Tools session, and after lunch Anouk will share some of her creative working methods, bringing Countertechnique tools into improvisation and creation.
Since we feel different from day to day, from moment to moment, as performers we need strategies to respond to the constantly changing circumstances we find ourselves in. Countertechnique offers specific tools and tasks to make training and dancing easier, more fun and more sustainable. Practical knowledge about the relation between gravity, energy, space and the body, and how thought, observation and sensations are related and influence the changing dancing body, promoting a pro-active relationship to dancing and performing. With a clear set of tasks and tools, and the free choice to implement these whenever most suited, dancers make their own choices whilst training, dancing and performing.
This workshop is most suitable for professional dance artists who like to dance, work physically and want to continue doing this for a long time. Dancers new to Countertechnique and those who would like to deepen their practice, are all welcome. We will be working within codified exercises and explore different aspects of task-based improvisation and generate new movement material.
Biography:
Anouk van Dijk is a choreographer, director and the creator of the movement system, Countertechnique. From 2012 – 2019, she was the Artistic Director of renowned contemporary dance company Chunky Move in Melbourne, Australia. Currently Anouk van Dijk works as a freelance choreographer internationally and is the Artistic Director of Countertechnique.
Between 1999 – 2012, Van Dijk ran for her own Amsterdam-based company, anoukvandijk dc, dedicated to creating work that sought to provide an insight into the many facets of the human experience through the lens of contemporary dance. During her tenure of Artistic Director of Chunky Move in Melbourne, Australia, she created a series of large scale productions, amongst others An Act of Now (2012), Complexity of Belonging (2014, with Falk Richter), Depth of Field (2015), Rule of Thirds (2016), Common Ground (2018). In 2019, she was commissioned to create Distant Matter with the artists of Staatsballet Berlin. She has also created works in collaboration with writer/director Falk Richter for Schaubuehne Berlin, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Duesseldorf Schauspielhaus, and most recent for Munich Kamerspiele the interdisciplinary show TOUCH (2020). In December 2021 Anouk van Dijk premiered the large-scale multi-disciplinary production Out of the Blue, for Skanes Dansteater, Malmö Opera and Symphony Orchestra and the Opera Children Choir. A new creation in collaboration with Kim Na-ye Movement Collective is currently in preparation in Seoul, to be premiered in 2023.
In her career Anouk has created more than thirty full-length works that toured to the world’s leading festivals and venues including Adelaide Festival, Sydney Opera House, Schaubuehne Berlin, Dance Triennale Tokyo, American Dance Festival, Theater der Welt (Hamburg), SPRING International Performing Arts Festival and Festival d’Avignon.
Central to the foundation of Anouk van Dijk’s artistic work has been Countertechnique, the movement system she developed to provide dancers with applied tools for versatile dance practice in the 21st century – focusing on the process of incorporating information into action. Anouk has worked with dancers around the world, and teaches internationally between Europe, USA, Australia and Asia. Currently, Countertechnique has 36 certified teachers around the world and the method holds a prominent place in the publication Dance Techniques 2010, co-written by Prof. Dr. Gerald Siegmund and Anouk van Dijk.
Read more about Anouk in this interview.
Dates:
Monday till Friday
November 13th till 24th
Times:
10:00 – 17:30
Price:
600 €
Registration fee of 150 € (as part of the 600 €)
Open classes:
From 10:00 till 11:45 it will be possible to join the Counter Technique as an open class. No registration or reservation is needed, but make sure to come early as there are limited spots. The cost per class is 20 €.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
WHAT IS COUNTERTECHNIQUE?
Countertechnique was developed by Anouk van Dijk over the course of 25 years, with the wish to continue moving and dancing in a safe, inspired and creative way. Countertechnique provides tools for body and mind to deal with the demanding dance practice of the 21st century. It is a movement system to help the dancer think about the dancing body, focusing on the process of incorporating information into action. Within a clear structure of exercises, the Countertechnique class thoroughly prepares the body for rehearsal and performance, enabling dancers to move bigger, more fluidly and more spatially, while becoming stronger and more flexible.
The Countertechnique movement method offers dancers a clear set of tasks and tools, and helps to lower stress and tension while you simultaneously build strength and coordination with an increased range of motion. In the Countertechnique class, mind and body are not trained separately from one another, but always in conjunction, implementing simple ideas into layered complexity. Countertechnique tools offer an alternative way of thinking about the organization of the body, where ‘core’ or ‘centre’, are no longer pursued as ideals. Information is systematically presented, so it can be understood, organised and retrieved.
Dancers who study Countertechnique become more pro-actively involved in their own ongoing development as artists, by consciously making choices whilst dancing, enabling a more sustainable relationship to the creative process. The task-oriented approach of Countertechnique allows dancers to make clear choices whilst moving, dancing and performing.
DANCERS ON COUNTERTECHNIQUE
“You can apply Countertechnique as much and/or as little as you want to whatever movement you are executing, be it technical or non-technical. It is current, it is now and it is developing alongside us as humans. Countertechnique allows me to execute movement with ease and efficiency that I may have taken years to figure out… and I’d much rather not figure it out with trial and error through injuries. The career is too fleeting to sit on the sidelines!”
James Vu Anh Pham (OperaBallet Vlaanderen, Akram Khan, Chunky Move/Anouk van Dijk, Eastman)
“Whereas previously I had felt burned out as a dancer and had struggled with the boredom of training, Countertechnique has given me so much joy and endless curiosity towards dancing again. I really appreciate how teachers help dancers address their issues for the purpose of their whole career, rather than just fixing form at that moment.”
Ema Yuasa (Eastman, Damien Jalet, independent dance artist and choreographer)
“As a young dancer, I prioritized effort over efficiency, and placed unrealistic demands on my energy as a performer. I am glad to have met Anouk when I did – Countertechnique has empowered my body and mind, and improved the communication between them. It has given me greater versatility in the rehearsal room and a more sustainable approach to class.”
Lauren Langlois (Peeping Tom, Chunky Move/Anouk van Dijk, independent dance artist and choreographer)
