Springboard Danse Montréal and Countertechnique are proud to bring the first One Body, One Career Countertechnique Intensive (OBOC) to North-America! After eleven successful editions in Europe and Australia, the OBOC is coming to Montreal from 1–12 July 2019. The OBOC 2019 brings together participants from all over the world to delve into Anouk van Dijk’s Countertechnique method, to learn invaluable skills for your career and to build connections around the globe.
Working for ten full days with Countertechnique Founder and former Chunky Move Artistic Director Anouk van Dijk, Senior Teacher Niharika Senapati, Teacher Joy Davis and Alexander Technique expert Tom Koch, the OBOC offers a wealth of information 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 and through performance seasons.
The 2019 OBOC Intensive in Montréal will offer daily Countertechnique classes and Practical Tools sessions. Countertechnique Founder Anouk van Dijk will share her love for space, improvisation and the creative process. Senior Countertechnique Teacher Niharika Senapati will offer insights in Anouk van Dijk’s repertory for Chunky Move and strategies for performance practice, and Tom Koch will introduce his specific approach of Alexander Technique for dancers in plenary and individual sessions. The intensive will conclude with a shared presentation of the various workshops.
Each OBOC operates in an intimate setting and only offers spots up to 55 participants. All previous editions have drawn a mix of participants from around the world including North America, Asia, Europe, South-America, the Middle East, Russia, Australia and New Zealand. The OBOC is not only the ultimate opportunity to immerse yourself in Countertechnique, but also an amazing event to meet international dancers, teachers and choreographers, who are interested in pursuing long careers and who love dancing!
1 – 12 July 2019
10am-6pm, Monday to Friday
Applicants must be able to attend the full two-week period
The full cost for the intensive is $1,300 USD, including 15% taxes. A one-time Application Fee of $30 USD is required for all applicants.
Due to the limited number of places, candidates are asked to 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 assessed on level and motivation.
For any additional questions, please consult our FAQ page
The OBOC will be held at the spacious and bright studios of UQAM (Université de Québec à Montréal), located in the centre of Montréal. All participants are responsible for arranging their own housing, but options to explore will be provided by the organisation. Housing in Montréal is cheap compared to many other major cities in North-America.
As we are operating on a very small team, we will be unable to answer all of your questions individually. For that reason, we’ve compiled an extensive FAQ page, with literally all the questions we thought you might have. Please make sure to carefully read the information on this page, to find an answer to any question you might have. Find the FAQ page here.
Anouk van Dijk is a choreographer, artistic director and the creator of the movement system, Countertechnique. For the past seven years she has been the Artistic Director of renowned contemporary dance company Chunky Move in Melbourne, Australia.
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 1998, 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. From 2012-2018, she was Artistic Director of dance company Chunky Move in Melbourne, Australia, where 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). She has also created works in collaboration with writer/director Falk Richter for Schaubuehne Berlin, Schauspiel Frankfurt and Duesseldorf Schauspielhaus. 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 Festival d’Avignon, Adelaide Festival, Sydney Opera House, Schaubuehne Berlin, Dance Triennale Tokyo, American Dance Festival, SPRING International Performing Arts Festival and Festival. Her upcoming work, Distant Matter, has been commissioned by Staatsballet Berlin and will premiere February 2019.
Niharika Senapati has been performing and touring with Chunky Move since 2012, working closely with Artistic Director Anouk van Dijk as a dancer in almost all of her choreographies, most notably An Act of Now (2012), 247 Days (2013), Depth of Field (2015), Rule of Thirds (2016), Anti—Gravity (2017) and Accumulation (2018). She was also Choreographic Assistant for Anouk van Dijk’s two most recent collaborations with theatre director Falk Richter, Complexity of Belonging (2014) and Safe Places (2016). As a freelance performer, Niharika has had an extensive list of creative collaborations as a performer, most recently in the work Trustees by the Belarus Free Theatre for Malthouse Theatre (2018) and Replay by Eszter Salamon (2018).
Alongside performing, Niharika is a Senior Countertechnique teacher, teaching extensively around the world. She has taught nationally all throughout Australia, as well as in the USA, India and Germany. Niharika is also a sound designer, and creates her own work as an emerging choreographer, presenting IMAGINATION/VACATION (2017), Follow your Dreams (2017) and POSITIVE Reinforcement (2018).
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. For twelve years, he has collaborated with his former student Anouk van Dijk to teach the annual One Body, One Career Intensive for dancers, first in Amsterdam and most recently in Melbourne. 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. In recent years, his private practice focuses mainly on helping those with chronic pain find improved movement and living strategies. Tom Koch has more information about his practice on his website Tomsterdam.
Joy Davis is an Associate Professor of Dance at the Boston Conservatory, specializing in Countertechnique, experiential anatomy, and European dance theater trends. Joy began studying Countertechnique with Founder Anouk van Dijk in 2005 and completed two Countertechnique Teacher Training (CTTT) certifications in 2012 and 2016. She has been teaching Countertechnique across the USA since 2012 at amongst others American Dance Festival (Durham, NC), Gibney Dance (New York), MovingTarget (Boston), BodyVox (Portland, Oregon), Fact/SF (California), New Dialect (Tennessee), Mocean Dance (Halifax, Nova Scotia), and the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation.
Her initiative joyproject produced seven collaborative and location-based dance evenings since it began in 2006. She was a Chicago Dancemakers Forum (CDF) Greenhouse Artist, a Choreographic Resident at the Workspace for Choreographers in Virginia, and has premiered further work through various presenters in Boston, Chicago, Nashville, Seattle, Philadelphia, and San Diego. Joy received an M.F.A. in choreography and performance from Smith College under the mentorship of Angie Hauser and has since taught as a visiting faculty member at Smith College, Wesleyan University, and Harvard University.
Joy Davis, Niharika Senapati, Anouk van Dijk
Mon 1 Jul – Fri 5 Jul,
All Day
Mon 8 Jul – Fri 12 Jul
Springboard Danse Montreal
Montréal (CA)