introduction
Countertechnique is the movement system Anouk van Dijk developed during her career as dancer, choreographer and teacher over the last 20 years. Countertechnique is a system to help the dancer think about the dancing body. Although the attained physical skills can be used in the choreographic process, the Countertechnique is however not a choreographic tool, but serves dancers in their daily practice of performing, rehearsing and training.
Anouk van Dijk developed this method during her own professional practice, in constant dialogue with her dancers. Having taught the method already for many years, from 2006 onwards the implications of the practice have been translated back to a theoretical framework. This knowledge is transferred to and constantly tested and evaluated by a growing number of teachers in the technique, who get together o a frequent basis during the Countertechnique Teachers Trainings (CTTT). The theoretical framework serves as reference for both dancers and teachers.
In Countertechnique dancers learn to move fluid, bigger and more spatially, and become strong and flexible at the same time. They loose their fear to take risks and become fast in changing directions, also on unexpected moments. Their focus in training goes to the process itself incorporating information into action. In a Countertechnique class dancers are encouraged to be pro-active in discovering connections and finding solutions, to be less concerned with judging themselves and to learn to work in a - mentally and physically – healthy manner.
If you want to find out more about the basic parameters in Countertechnique, please continue below.
In the late eighties Anouk van Dijk came into contact with the Alexander technique, on a moment of extreme physical and mental pressure in her career as a dancer. Using the principles of ‘directing’ from the Alexander technique helped to use energy much more efficiently. However in more extreme ways of moving, directing body parts is hard to maintain without gripping. This is because if you direct the real weight of a body part in space using as little tension as possible, the weight of your entire body will be pulled into that direction as well. In order not to fall over, you tend to grip. And this gripping blocks the movement. By directing another part of your body away from it in the counter direction – which includes directing the weight of that body part – you create a new form of balance: a dynamic balance. This dynamic balance diminishes the pressure on the overall body structure and can be changed at any given moment. By distributing the weight in space this way, moving will cost less energy and more overall control can be realized.
Working with this dynamic balance became the main focus of the Countertechnique training. This sense of balance could also be used in the creation process to enable more extreme movements and quality changes. It helps to communicate better with the audience while dancing and physical limits can be pushed in a safer way. Although the idea of directing and counter directing is very simple, the possibilities and implications are vast, both physically and mentally. How to get an overview of all this, the Countertechnique has been divided into three categories. Each category helps you to answer three different questions, the so called ‘WHY, WHAT and HOW’:
WHY DO WE USE DIRECTIONS AND COUNTER DIRECTIONS?
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES?
HOW DO I DO THIS EFFECTIVELY?
The answers to these three questions form THE COUNTERTECHNIQUE TOOLBOX. Dancers can use this toolbox actively themselves in their daily warm up, training and dancing.
This active, personal use is called SCANNING. Scanning is a guide for body and mind. Scanning is the constructive alternative to ‘trying hard’. Scanning helps you to stay in the moment. All information is systematically organized in the toolbox and forms a map in the dancer’s mind. Countertechnique is therefore also a mind technique. The toolbox helps dancers to find information and how to apply this information in a very down to earth and practical way. It is not random information that works, but it is a method with underlying principles that dancers can learn and can turn into a physical experience. The map in the dancer’s mind can help answer many questions that come up in training, performing and recovering.
Dancers can apply the information from Countertechnique also in other technique classes like ballet; they can use it for stretching, for strengthening, for building stamina. The aim is that dancers eventually apply the principles actively themselves so they don’t need to depend on a teacher all the time. Knowing how the toolbox works will help dancers become more engaged in their ongoing, personal development as dancers/performers, students and professionals alike.
THE COUNTERTECHNIQUE TOOLBOX:
WHY
principles of
directing and counter directing
WHAT
directions and
counter directions HOW
physical parameters
SCANNING
(you)
HOW
mental parameters HOW
body in space
HOW
basic facts of
anatomy