Dance Techniques 2010

Anouk van Dijk — Countertechnique
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As has been pointed out in the chapter Concept and Ideology,
Countertechnique’s understanding of the body is one
without a fixed and localized center. The notion of center
is replaced by a dynamic balance of directions and counter–directions,
and is continually shifting. To create an alternative
stability, the idea of directions in space, distances
in the body, point of views (POV), and sequential thinking
are used. Moving bones, therefore, is always relative to the
perspective that is being used when directing and counter–
directing. Strictly speaking, there is no center.
To move means having the weight of the body at one’s
disposal. If movement is triggered by a particular body
part, this can lead to falling horizontally through space,
which, as has been pointed out, is one of the main principles
in Countertechnique. It appears as if dancers using
Countertechnique are frequently off–center, but what is
called off–center in other techniques is, in Countertechnique,
only a moment of moving through space to get
somewhere else. So falling horizontally is not considered
to be moving off–balance, rather it strives towards a different
notion of balance that is not dependent upon an
upright body.
To consider horizontal falling as one of the basic activities
while dancing automatically implies that gravity and
the weight of the individual body parts are being acknowledged
in every movement. When the body is directed
downward, gravity augments the direction the body is
taking. But with Countertechnique there is never one single
direction of movement. If a body part is going downward
with gravity, the dancer sends the weight of another
body part upward and away from the floor. In this way,
the body is held in limbo between two directions. In order
to establish the dynamic balance that is characteristic of
Countertechnique, the weight of the body is always being
shared by various limbs and thereby directed outward into
space. One might say that when weight is sent off into
space, the burden of the full weight on the dancer’s spine
is relieved. To distribute weight in space, the dancer has
to send energy away from his or her body in two directions;
this minimizes the amount of effort and blocking in
the joints. To begin, there are the basic directions up and
down, side and side, front and back that can be further
elaborated upon by adding different diagonals, circular,
and other spatial trajectories. When various possibilities
are combined, movements will become multidirectional.
In class, Anouk van Dijk reminds students that when sending
energy they should remember the periphery of their
bodies. Energy going through the body has to be sent all
the way out through the fingertips, top of the head, or toes
to prevent it from being held inside the body. By increasing
or decreasing the amount of energy, the dancer can maintain
balance. Sending more energy in one direction implies
moving in that direction.
The principle of sending weight off into space becomes
important in the partnering workshops. Students who grip
muscles and keep the energy inside the body become heavy
for a partner to lift or move. Students who send their energy
outward become lighter and therefore increase their
possibilities for moving or being lifted; they share the
weight with the space around them.
In general, a weight shift might initiate a movement.
More specifically, shifting weight is crucial for directing
and counter–directing. The weight of the head and the
trunk—the trunk being the part of the body from the sit
bones up to the neck—must be directed away from the energy
direction used by the legs. Weight should be sent into
opposite directions in space. If the trunk and the legs move
away from each other, more space is created in the hip
joints, enabling the dancer more freedom in a leg movement.
Dancers who don’t acknowledge the weight shift of
the head and trunk in space, and who then try to achieve
full range in leg movements, will have to use excessive energy
because they have decreased the availability of the
hip joint. Their lower backs will press down on the legs,
thereby restricting the movement radius.
Space is a crucial component of Countertechnique.
Space is an active partner for the dancer, supporting him
or her. The space inside and the space outside the body are
interconnected and are constantly engaged in a dialogue.
The dancer directs energy into the space surrounding him
or her in order to create more space inside the body. Vice
versa, the more space the dancer creates inside the body,
the more the dancer can direct movement into the space
outside.
This concept of space has many implications physically
and mentally, and also on a practical level. In order to
explore the practical possibilities and give students an idea
of how they can use space, Anouk van Dijk takes recourse
to improvisation techniques developed by Forsythe in the
early 1980s. This analytical introduction to spatial orientation
is a practical tool; it provides an overview of the
many possibilities that directing and counter–directing offers
a dancer. In exercises from Van Dijk’s Practical Tools
Workshop, students are asked to begin standing, imagining
a plane with Laban’s nine points in front of them—three
high in front of them, three on the middle level, and three
on the floor. They may send any body part to any of the
nine points. Gradually the exercise becomes more complicated
as planes and levels are added until, ultimately,
students have all twenty-seven points at their disposal.
The exercise increases spatial awareness and three–dimensional
thinking because the entire space is being used. Not
only do students project to the front, they also experience
their bodies as a volume connected to space. Making use
of Laban’s cube for directing and counter–directing implies
that various spatial levels are always available, either
at the same time or in sequence. If a dancer engages in a
falling movement, for instance, he or she will neither fall
straight down nor stop at the floor. They will either continue
to move horizontally along the floor or pass through