RÉSUMÉ ANOUK VAN DIJK Anouk van Dijk is a Dutch choreographer, dancer and the creator behind the movement system, Countertechnique. She is currently artistic director of contemporary dance company Chunky Move in Melbourne, Australia. Having graduated from the Rotterdam Dance Academy in 1985, Anouk van Dijk spent the next ten years as a lead soloist for Rotterdam Dance Company and Amanda Miller s Pretty Ugly Dance Company. From early in her career she was attracted to the creation of performance and from 1996 committed herself exclusively to the conception, choreography and performance of her own work. In 1998 van Dijk formed her own dance company,, dedicated to creating work that sought to provide an insight into the many facets of the human experience through the lens of contemporary dance. The company produced between 1998-2012 twenty full-length works that have toured the globe, attracting broad audiences and critical acclaim. Hallmarked by their distinctive unpredictability, van Dijk s work has been performed at the worlds leading festivals and venues including Festival d'avignon, Festival TransAmériques, Adelaide Festival, Theatertreffen Berlin, Festival de Otoño, American Dance Festival, Julidans Festival, Dance Triennale Tokyo, Springdance, NET Festival Moscow, Holland Dance Festival, Tanec Praha and Perth International Arts Festival. Van Dijk has shared a long collaborative association with German writer and director, Falk Richter, a relationship that has seen the creation of productions Nothing Hurts (1999), a coproduction with Kampnagel Hamburg and Springdance Festival (Netherlands); TRUST (2009) and PROTECT ME (2010) in co-production with the Schaubühne Berlin; and most recently, Rausch (2012) a co-production with Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus.
Defined by a pronounced physical language, Anouk van Dijk s work ranges from technically adept and abstract dance productions, to raw and concrete theatrical encounters, very often exploring the audience s relationship to the dancers. Increasingly, van Dijk has become interested in creating site-specific work. In doing so, she has been able to research the influence and effect environment has on individual s behaviour and interpretation of dance; through its social, political or cultural heritage and its influence on physical and personal space. These interests have resulted in SHOT (2006) and DESEO (2009), two works reflecting on dance in the context of Vaudeville, for the touring tent festival De Parade (NL), and the outdoor, site-specific work, Mensch (2011) for the festival Oerol on the island of Terschelling (NL), which then relocated (and reincarnated) to the sheds of the former Dutch Dock and Shipbuilding Company in Amsterdam for the Festival Over het IJ. Most recently, Anouk van Dijk developed for Chunky Move the site-specific work An Act of Now, voted The Age Critics Award for best new Australian work at the 2012 Melbourne Festival. Central to the foundation of her work and the training of her dancers has been Countertechnique, the movement system van Dijk developed to provide dancers with applied tools for contemporary dance practice. 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 prepares the body for rehearsal and performance, enabling dancers to move bigger, more fluidly and more spatially, while becoming stronger and more flexible. Dancers are encouraged to be pro-active in discovering connections and solutions, to be less concerned with judging themselves and to work in a healthy way with regard to body and mind. In 2008, van Dijk implemented the Countertechnique Teachers Training (CTTT) program, resulting in an increasing number of dance practitioners teaching the method worldwide. Countertechnique also occupies a prominent place in the publication Dance Techniques 2010 a book that, for the first time, critically analyses modern, post-modern and contemporary dance techniques in comparison to one another. Complimenting this publication, in 2013 will be the official launch of the Countertechnique website and the release of a learning resource in the form of an iphone/ipad application. In July 2012, van Dijk assumed the role of Artistic Director of Chunky Move. In October 2012 she opened her debut work, An Act of Now, for the company. The world premiere of An Act of Now continued her investigation of human dynamics within the context of contemporary Australian culture and society. Her next production, 247 Days, will open on March 16, 2013 during the Dance Massive festival in Melbourne. For more information about Anouk van Dijk, please contact: info@chunkymove.com.au, or info@anoukvandijk.nl or go to the following websites: www.chunkymove.com.au www.countertechnique.com www.facebook.com/chunkymove www.facebook.com/countertechnique
CHOREOGRAPHIES BY ANOUK VAN DIJK 2012 An Act of Now Chunky Move Rausch in coproduction with Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus 2011 Mensch Muze 2010 PROTECT ME in coproduction with Schaubühne Berlin Wowwowwonders in me 2009 TRUST in coproduction with Schaubühne Berlin Deseo Shotz, in coproduction with MASS MoCA 2008 Borrowed Landscapes 2007 Bliss Beijing Modern Dance Company / / HDF Situations Pushing Air 2006 STAU tour version STAU residency version (China) collaboration with Zuhe Niao and Shanghai Dance Academy SHOT I love me too Philadanco, Philadelphia
STAU residency version (USA) / MASSMoCA, North Adams 2005 HEADS Derivatives American Dance Festival Imagine a green wall PARTS, Brussels 2004 Drink Me STAU residency version (Basel) / Welt in Basel STAU residency version (Moscow) / TSEH Festival STAU research version (Amsterdam) 2003 Suna no Onna Amour Fou 2002 DIVA Prologue to a love affair CODARTS/Rotterdam Dance Academy 2001 Alien (i am sorry) 2000 Microman 2000 Sample Story Mermaid Short film for the NPS television series Dansblik Exit Ekatarinburg Contemporary Arts Centre, Ekatarinburg am i out? Provincial Dances Theatre, Ekatarinburg 1999 Nothing Hurts / Kampnagel Hamburg / Springdance Festival Call it a day Galili Dance, Groningen
1998 eter/ether Klapstuk Festival Leuven / DWA Amsterdam non EC The Theater School of Amsterdam Engel Exit CODARTS/Rotterdam Dance Academy 1997 Alex s Remix Springdance Festival / DWA Amsterdam Pennoen (m) The Theater School of Amsterdam 1996 My jester CaDance Festival / DWA Amsterdam Lucky Ex/imago DWA Amsterdam / Theater Kikker, Utrecht 1995 Pink Chinese Restaurants Holland Dance Festival / Korzo Productions Lucky Loser (and other camel rides) HKM - The Santa Cruz Remix Both created in Santa Cruz, California 1994 Hart, kwink, moker CaDance Festival / DWA Amsterdam 1993 Pennoen (v) The Theater School of Amsterdam Haar Seinen CODARTS/Rotterdam Dance Academy 1992 Wild Duck Flying Backwards Zarten 1991 Meander Open Handen Both commissioned by 1991 Edge stories 1990 Met Bach/Eigenhout 1989 De Maatjes
COUNTERTECHNIQUE CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS (selection) DANCE ACADEMIES Codarts / Rotterdam Dance Academy, Rotterdam P.A.R.T.S, Brussels ArtEZ, Dance Academy Arnhem California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles Palucca University of Dance, Dresden Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, Frankfurt Western Australian Academy for Performing Arts, Perth Beijing Dance Academy, Beijing Theatre Academy Helsinki, Helsinki Danish National School of Performing Arts Shanghai Dance Academy, Shanghai Florida State University, Tallahassee Hochschule für Tanz und Musik Köln, Köln Theater School Amsterdam, Amsterdam University of Columbus, Ohio University of Lawrence, Kansas Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz, California PUBLIC CLASSES s Summer Intensive One Body, One Career, Amsterdam Henny Jurriëns Stichting, Amsterdam American Dance Festival, Durham Dance New Amsterdam, New York Bodytraffic Summer & Winter Intensive, Los Angeles Tanzlabor-21, Frankfurt K3 Hamburg, Hamburg TSEKH Summer School, Moscow ODC Dance School, San Francisco Velocity Dance Center, Seattle ITs Festival, Amsterdam Julidans Festival, Amsterdam Workshop Foundation, Budapest, Hungary Santa Cruz Dance, California Open Look International Summer Dance Festival, St Petersburg Festival Isadora, Krasnoyarsk COMPANY CLASSES, Amsterdam Chunky Move, Melbourne, Australia Nederlands Dans Theater 2, The Netherlands Ballet Frankfurt, Frankfurt Dansgroep Amsterdam / Dansgroep Krisztina de Châtel, Amsterdam Galili Dance, Groningen Ballett Freiburg / Pretty Ugly Dance Company, Freiburg Provincial Dances Theater, Ekatarinburg Vytis Jankauskas Dance Company, Vilnius Philadanco, Philadelphia Scapino Ballet, Rotterdam Philadanco, Philadelphia Landestheater Linz