Countertechnique Founder Anouk van Dijk is coming to London for the first time!
This two-day workshop offers fresh fuel for the year ahead. How to add longevity to your dance career? How to keep things interesting for yourself? Our ever-changing dancing bodies need different care and stimulant every single day. How to remain open and inspired so we can continue dancing full-heartedly in a sustainable way?
The workshop will start with a 2hr Countertechnique class, followed by a 1hr Practical Tools session, which will introduce specific tools to support and deepen your dance practice. After lunch, we will bring Countertechnique Tools into creation and performance and explore how specific tools and tasks can support us beyond the class format. Departing from some of Anouk’s choreographic working methods, we will investigate strategies to fuel the creative process and to support ourselves through demanding performance seasons and touring.
The Countertechnique class and Practical Tools session are all about enabling dancers to move bigger, more fluidly and more spatially while becoming more aware of their surroundings. The creative workshop segment will be aimed at dance artists who want to work creatively while continuing to dance to the fullest. Be prepared to work quickly, think creatively, and perform at a high physical level.
This workshop is designed for professional and advanced dancers and high-level college students. Participants are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Maximum participants: 40
Limited drop-in spots for class (10 am – 12 pm) are available.
About Countertechnique
Countertechnique 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 Practical Tools Sessions offer more in-depth and personalized information on how to implement the tools from Countertechnique in class, rehearsal and performance.
About Anouk van Dijk
Anouk van Dijk (NL) is the founding Artistic Director of Countertechnique. She has been the Artistic Director of the Australian contemporary dance company Chunky Move from 2012 – 2019. Before moving to Australia in 2012, Anouk van Dijk had an extensive career as a choreographer and dancer in Europe. Starting her career as a dancer in the late 80s, Van Dijk formed her own dance company in 1998 in Amsterdam, producing more than twenty full-length works that toured the globe. In 2012 Van Dijk was awarded the Golden Swan (Gouden Zwaan) – the Netherlands’ most prestigious dance accolade – in recognition of her outstanding artistic and academic contribution to dance in her home country.
Since arriving in Australia in 2012, Anouk van Dijk has created eleven further full evening works for Chunky Move, which have toured internationally extensively. Anouk van Dijk has collaborated across disciplines with renowned artists such as Falk Richter (Germany), Ho Tzu Nyen (Singapore), Theun Mosk (the Netherlands), Marg Horwell (Australia) and Ian Strange (US/Australia). Anouk currently works internationally as a free-lance choreographer, director and educator and has created works for, amongst others, Germany’s renowned theatre, the Münchner Kammerspiele, Staatsballett Berlin and Skanes Dansteater/Malmö Opera (Sweden).
Date Sat 16 & Sun 17 December 2023
Time 10 am - 5 pm
Location Acosta Dance Centre
Price (2 days workshop) £99
Price Early Birds (buy by November 16) £80
Sat 16 Dec,
10:00 – 17:00
Sun 17 Dec,
10:00 – 17:00
Acosta Dance Foundation
London (GB)