OBOC 2025 Europe - Countertechnique

APPLICATION DEADLINE 2 FEBRUARY

One Body, One Career (OBOC) Intensive Europe 2025

Amsterdam 26 July - 5 August - organised in collaboration with Henny Jurriëns Studio

We're very excited to once again host the OBOC in the spacious studios of our partner Henny Jurriëns Studio (HJS) in Amsterdam from 26 July - 5 August! Working for ten full days with Countertechnique Founder and Artistic Director Anouk van Dijk, Senior Countertechnique Teachers Elita Cannata and Rosanna Tavarez, Countertechnique Teachers James Vu Anh Pham, Ema Yuasa and Eva Schaller, and Alexander Technique expert Tom Koch, the OBOC offers a wealth of information and lots of lush dancing, to both first time and returning participants.

The OBOC Intensive is for professional dancers and advanced dance students interested in pursuing a long, healthy and successful career in dance. First time participants will gain a detailed introduction to the distinct elements and methodology that form Countertechnique, while returning participants will have the opportunity to deepen and expand their understanding. Through physical practice, theory, discourse and creative workshops, participants will gain a set of practical tools that they will be able to draw from and apply in their daily dance practice, other movement styles and through performance seasons.

The 2025 OBOC will run for ten full days in Amsterdam, and this year our program offers new pathways for introductory level Countertechnique, as well as for advanced Countertechnique practitioners and OBOC regulars. Daily Countertechnique classes and Practical Tools sessions will be run by Countertechnique Founder Anouk van Dijk Senior Teachers Elita Cannata and Rosanna Tavarez. Countertechnique Teachers James Vu Anh Pham, Ema Yuasa, Eva Schaller and Na-ye Kim will assist throughout the intensive, and run additional Countertechnique classes and creative workshops in their own distinct styles, and Alexander Technique teacher Tom Koch will introduce his specific approach of Alexander Technique for dancers, in group and individual sessions. The afternoon program will include sessions on various aspects of Countertechnique, repertory studies and improvisation, and in the second week three creative elective workshops, where you can explore aspects of Anouk van Dijk’s artistic process, improvisation and repertory studies, and develop more agency in performing and strategies for composition and creation. The OBOC will conclude with a sharing of the various workshops.

OBOC Amsterdam takes place at the spacious Chassé Dance Studios, and offers spots for maximum 90 dancers, working in three to four groups simultaneously in intimate settings. Previous editions have drawn a mix of participants from all around the world. The OBOC is the ultimate opportunity to immerse yourself in Countertechnique, and an amazing event to meet other dance artists, teachers and dance makers who are interested in pursuing long, creative careers and who love dancing!

DATES

Sat 26 July – Tue 5 August 2025 (day off: Thu 31 July)
All days: 9:30 am - 6:00 pm
Applicants must be able to attend the entire period

PROGRAM FEES

The full cost for the intensive is 1.250 EUR. A one-time Application Fee of 30 EUR is required for all applicants.

Applications close on Sunday 2 February 2025 at midnight. Applicants will be notified by Monday 17 February 2025.

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit a personal motivation statement and CV for consideration in PDF format, together not exceeding two pages. An additional online dancer's reel is required, which should include footage shot in a studio (improvisation or choreography). Applications are considered based on motivation and entrance level.

Applications are open from Monday January 13 - Sunday 2 February. Find the registration form here: Apply Now.
For any additional questions and all the conditions that apply to the program, please consult our FAQ page before applying.

LOCATION

The OBOC will be held at the Chassé Studios in Amsterdam, located in Amsterdam-East. We will be using several very spacious studios, measuring 24 m x 18 m, 27.5 m x 11 m, 27.5 m x 10 m, 12 x 11 m and 8 x 10 m (for Alexander Technique only). All participants are responsible for arranging their own housing, but housing assistance will be available.

FURTHER QUESTIONS AND TERMS& CONDITIONS

The HJS and Countertechnique teams will do our best to answer your questions, but we encourage you to review our extensive FAQ page before reaching out or submitting your application. This page will also provide you with all relevant conditions applicable to the program. All participants are expected to have read the information on this page prior to applying. Find the FAQ page here.

The full Terms and Conditions for participation in the OBOC program can be found here. Upon registration, a formal acceptance of these terms and conditions is required.

OBOC AMSTERDAM 2025 FACULTY

Anouk van Dijk

Anouk van Dijk is a choreographer, artistic 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 internationally as a freelance choreographer and is the Founding Artistic Director of Countertechnique.

Anouk van Dijk spent the first ten years of her career as a lead soloist for Rotterdam Dance Company and Amanda Miller’s Pretty Ugly Dance Company. From early on, she was attracted to choreography and from the late nineties committed herself exclusively to the conception, creation and performance of her own work. In 1999, Van Dijk founded her own 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 several 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 recent years, she created amongst other Distant Matter for Staatsballet Berlin, followed by the multi-disciplinairy show TOUCH with writer/director Falk Richter at the Münchner Kammerspiele in Germany, and Out of the Blue for Skånes Dansteater / Malmö Opera in Sweden, on music from Bach to Björk with the Malmö Opera Orchestra and Children's Choir. Three new commissions will premiere in Germany in 2025: for the Hessische Staatsballett (Wiesbaden), Tanz Muenster/LWL Museum for Arts and Culture (Muenster), and a new collaboration with German writer/director Falk Richter at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg.

In her career Anouk van Dijk 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.

Anouk van Dijk initiated the One Body One Career Countertechnique Intensive (OBOC) in 2006, and has served as its Program Director ever since.

Elita Cannata

Elita Cannata is a Senior Teacher Countertechnique. Born in Italy, Elita is currently based in Amsterdam. She has studied Countertechnique since 2005 and performed for anoukvandijk dc in 2007 and 2008. She attended her first Countertechnique Teacher Training (CTTT) program in 2014 and, with the support of the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, returned to the CTTT in 2018 and progressed to the level Senior Teacher. Since 2021 she is part of the Faculty of OBOC, as well as the CTTT, and is inspired to support the future generations of Countertechnique Teachers.

Elita has graduated with a Bachelor of Dance in 2007 at Rotterdam Dance Academy / Codarts in the Netherlands and in 2011 got her MA in Theories of Performing Arts at the Università degli Studi in Bologna. During and after her graduation she performed for anoukvandijk dc, Cathy Sharp Ensemble, Compagnia Tpo & Tom Dale, Tan Temel, Samuele Cardini, Itzik Galili, Lynsey Peisinger, David Middendorp, and Fabrizio Favale among others. Next to her dance and teaching career, she has worked as a rehearsal director with Project Sally and Another Kind of Blue. As a teacher she visits many Institutions of Higher Education and dance companies around Europe, such as Skanes Danstheater, Goteborgdanskompani, Nederland Dans Theater, Introdans, ECD Academie voor Theater en Dans, ArtEZ Arnhem and Henny Jurriens Studio among others. In addition to her teaching career, Elita works as an events coordinator within the creative industry, contributing to events such as the International Film Festival Rotterdam and Venice Film Festival.

Rosanna Tavarez

Rosanna Tavarez received an MFA in Choreography from The Ohio State University as a University Fellow and a Teaching Fellow, and a BFA in Choreography from University of Michigan. She has a diverse background as a performer/entertainer and has had the honor of working with Marina Ambramovic, Ryan Heffington, Ryan Seacrest, Travis Payne, Tony Michaels and Rosanna Gamson/Worldwide. She also toured with N’SYNC and Jessica Simpson as one-fifth of the girl group Eden’s Crush and covered the Emmys, Grammys and Oscars in addition to hosting her own shows as a television personality for FOX, E!, TVGuide Network, and Telemundo/NBC.

Tavarez has been studying Countertechnique since 2011, and in 2016 became a Certified Countertechnique Teacher. In 2023, after co-leading her first One Body One Career Intensive with Founder Anouk Van Dijk at Gibney in New York City, she became a Senior Teacher. Tavarez has had the pleasure of teaching Countertechnique nationally and internationally.

Tavarez’s work has been presented at The Broad Museum, ODC Theater, REDCAT, Dance Camera West, The Odyssey, Breaking Ground Dance Festival, LA Department of Cultural Affairs' LA Dance Platform, Sarasota Contemporary Dance and Highways Performance Space, and has been supported by Center for New Performance, Maxwell Hanrahan Award, CalState LA’s Research, Scholarship and Creativity Awards, CalArts, ARC grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation, UCLA Hothouse Residency and Show Box LA.

As a dance educator, Tavarez has taught as faculty and guest artist at numerous institutions including USC Kaufman School of Dance, University of Michigan, Loyola Marymount University, Scripps College, CalState Long Beach, Studio School, University of Southern Mississippi, Texas State University and Cal State LA. Currently she serves as the BFA Program Director at CalArts Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance.

James Vu Anh Pham

James has been working extensively with Anouk van Dijk since 2012, with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui since 2016, and with Akram Khan since 2019. For Anouk van Dijk / Chunky Move, he performed in An Act of Now (2012), 247 Days (2013), Complexity of Belonging (2014), Depth of Field (2015) and Rule of Thirds (2016). For Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, he performed with Eastman (Babel Words), Royal Ballet of Flanders (Ravel), GöteborgsOperans Danskompani (Icon), Bayerische Staatsoper (Les Indes Galantes) and Theater Basel (Satyagraha). With Akram Khan Company, he premiered and toured Outwitting the Devil since July 2019. James received the ‘Best Male Dancer in a Dance or Physical Theatre Work’ 2014 Helpmann Award, and the Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer 2014 Australian Dance Award. He has been studying Countertechnique intensively since 2012, and became a certified teacher in 2014. In 2021, he has started on a new engagement as a dancer with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerp, Belgium, performing in works by Alain Platel (Chœurs) and Jan Martens (Futur Proche). In recent years, James has performed in Madonna's Celebration Tour worldwide, and now based in London, works as a free-lance dance artist and choreographer, and currently collaborates with FKA twigs on her upcoming tour.

Tom Koch

Certified Teacher of the Alexander Technique

Tom Koch pursued his Bachelor of Arts in Theater, with a minor study in History of Science, at University of Missouri-Kansas City. After being certified to teach in 1987 by the American Center for the Alexander Technique in New York, he was a pioneer in integrating the Alexander Technique with ballet movement and education, particularly for resolving chronic pain and repetitive injuries. He was for years the Alexander Technique teacher for William Forsythe’s groundbreaking Ballet Frankfurt (later the Forsythe Company). He has also taught group and private lessons for Netherlands Dance Theater, Tanztheater Wuppertal (Pina Bausch), the Dutch National Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, Chunky Move, La Biennale di Venezia College Danza, Codarts University, L’Artère, Studio 303, Henny Jurriëns Studio in Amsterdam, and many others. Every year since 2006, Tom has collaborated with his former student Anouk van Dijk to teach the annual One Body, One Career Intensive (OBOC) for dancers, in Amsterdam, Melbourne, Montréal, New York and Los Angeles. His work is not limited to dance but includes a wide range of artists in all forms of dance, music and theater. He also has taught the technique to doctors, writers, scientists, secretaries, architects and police agents. Although now retired from private practice he still enjoys teaching his own workshops focusing mainly on helping those with chronic pain to find improved movement and living strategies.

Ema Yuasa

Born in Japan, Ema is now based in The Hague (the Netherlands). She has been studying Countertechnique since 2016, and became a certified Countertechnique Teacher in 2020, followed by her second CTTT in 2023.

Ema studied classical ballet in Hiroshima (Japan) and Monte-Carlo (Monaco) at the Princesse Grace Dance Academy. After her graduation in 2002, she danced with the Dresden Ballet in Germany and L’Opera de Nice in France before joining Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) from 2004-2015, performing works by among others: Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Hans van Manen, Lightfoot and Leon, Johan Inger, Wayne Mcgregor, Marco Goecke, Alexander Ekman, Gabriela Carrizo and Franck Chartier (Peeping Tom), Sharon Eyal, among others. A freelance dancer since 2016, Ema worked amongst others with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Tomoko Mukaiyama, Toshiki Okada, Ella Rothschild, Kronos Quartet as well as performing the lead role in Mats Ek’s ‘Julia & Romeo’ at the Royal Swedish Ballet, and in Sasha Waltz’s “Körper”. In recent years, Ema has been part of the creation and world tours of Damien Jaret x Kohei Nawa's ‘Planet [wanderer]’ and ‘Mirage[transitory]’.

As a choreographer, Ema has collaborated and created with various artists and was awarded at the 13th and 15th Japan Dance Forums. She has also launched ‘nosmosis research’ in Japan, a creative initiative which brings dance to various people through movement, both non-dancers and dancers, expanding the possibilities of dance.

Eva Schaller

Eva Schaller is a freelance dancer, teacher, and choreographer based in Vienna, Austria. She began her journey with Countertechnique at Codarts, and performed in Anouk van Dijk's company anoukvandijk dc in Situations, SHOT, Am i out? and STAU throughout the Netherlands and abroad between 2007-2009. She participated in the One Body One Career Intensives in 2007, 2008 and 2016, and became a certified teacher in 2016. She completed her second CTTT in 2022.

Eva has collaborated with choreographers Emio Greco|PC, Anouk van Dijk, Christine Gaigg, Georg Blaschke, and Willi Dorner, amongst others, and worked with the Munich Philharmonic with Sabine Glenz.

Her choreographic practice is deeply engaged with Austrian modernist dance heritage, archival research, female histories, and embodied memory. Works include the solo Recalling Her Dance (2021), which was shown at Tanzquartier Vienna and Impulstanz Vienna International Dance Festival, as well as the group work Femenine (2022), performed in various public spaces across Vienna.

In 2023, Eva completed the Master's program in New Performative Practices at the Stockholm University of the Arts. Her recent work O! A Biography, created in collaboration with the Black Page Orchestra and the Dance Department of MUK Vienna was presented at Tanzquartier / Wien Modern.

Since 2016, Eva has been teaching Countertechnique in professional dance programs across Europe such as Impuls Tanz, and is a regular guest teacher and choreographer at the MUK Music and Arts University Vienna.

Na-ye Kim

Born and based in South Korea, Na-ye Kim resides in Seoul. She has been studying Countertechnique in-depth since 2019, including attending two One Body, One Career intensives and participating in the Countertechnique Teacher Training program in 2021 and 2022.
Na-ye Kim is a dance artist, educator, and scholar. She trained in classical ballet at The Royal Ballet School and earned a BA (Hons) in Dance Education from Durham University (UK). In 2006, she completed her MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts (USA). She has performed extensively on international stages, including with Mikhail Baryshnikov's Hell's Kitchen Dance, and has also worked with renowned American choreographers such as Gerald Casel, Aszure Barton, Karole Armitage, Bill Young, Kyle Abraham, Bridget L. Moore in New York.

Na-ye furthered her academic pursuits with a PhD in Dance Education from Seoul National University (Korea). She served as a full-time lecturer at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts from 2016 to 2019 and is now the Chair of the Department of Dance and an Associate Professor of Contemporary Dance at Sungkyunkwan University (Korea). She also leads her project company, Na-ye Kim Movement Collective (NKMC). Her research focuses on contemporary dance, choreography, and creativity pedagogy.

TESTIMONIALS FROM PREVIOUS OBOCs

“I’ve gone beyond what I thought was possible for myself” – Erica Brandell

“Dance finally feels like I’m doing it for me again.” – Nicole Smith

“The program was so amazing. … I haven’t smiled whilst dancing in so long.” – Ashley Allen

“I feel like a completely different dancer” – Kristen Ahring

“It will have a tremendously positive impact on my dancing in all forms.” – Emily Hansel

“it has been lifechanging for me as a dancer” – Madeline Burr

“The [Countertechnique] toolbox will change how I approach all movement forms” – Sidney Ramsey

“Countertechnique’s way of communicating can aid the dancer to feel comfortable, safe, empowered in one’s body” – Jennifer Sydor

“These tools are a way for us to trust in ourselves, the process + the overall beauty of movement.” – Madison Elliott

“will help me stay healthy and happy for years to come” – Samuel Melecio-Zambrano

“these tools could allow for dancers to stay in it longer while embracing the process of the aging body” – Elise Jumes

“This program has helped me realize that I have more years of dance left in me than I thought.” – Travis Cooper

“new hope for the future of dance” – Shelley Cochrane