2022 FACT/SF Summer Dance Lab
July 25-31, 2022
10am - 4pm, Daily
San Francisco, California
Photo by Kegan Marling
OVERVIEW
The 2022 FACT/SF Summer Dance Lab (SDL) is designed for dancers new to Countertechnique and for those who have already had some experience with the practice. Within an open, investigative environment, participants will spend 7 days learning and experimenting with Countertechnique, Gaga, improvisation, and FACT/SF Creative Process to heighten awareness, distill intention, have fun, get sweaty, and explore unknown terrain. Like all of FACT/SF’s workshops, the SDL is intentionally inclusive and non-competitive. In order to make the SDL as safe as possible, only those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be accepted. Boosters are recommended but not required. (Please email workshop@factsf.org with any questions or to discuss our vaccination requirement.)
Countertechnique w/Samuel Melecio-Zambrano, Charles Slender-White, & Rosanna Tavarez
Gaga & Improvisation w/James Graham
Original Creations and FACT/SF Creative Process with Slender-White & FACT/SF Company Members
The SDL will also include 2-3 master classes from our Summer Dance Festival artists.
The SDL cultivates inquiry, discovery, and discussion. Through practice, conversation, and the juxtaposition of different forms, the SDL facilitates a deepening of participants’ understanding of contemporary dance via the use and application of Countertechnique and Gaga.
The 2022 SDL will accept a maximum of 25 participants. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the SDL has reached capacity.
DAILY SCHEDULE & DETAILS
July 25-31, 2022
Monday-Sunday
10am - 4pm, including a 45-minute lunch break.
Though the schedule varies from day to day, a typical day might look like this:
10am-11:45am – Countertechnique w/Rosanna Tavarez
11:45am-1pm – Gaga w/James Graham
1pm-1:45pm – Break
1:45pm-4pm – Creative Process & Original Creations with Charles Slender-White
LOCATION
Joe Goode Annex
401 Alabama St (at 17th)
San Francisco, CA 94110
The Joe Goode Annex has all-gender bathrooms.
Scholarships
Via our Fieldwork program, FACT/SF is providing three dancers with tuition scholarships to the 2022 Summer Dance Lab. Applications were due on March 21 and selections were made on April 1.
FACT/SF will be offering scholarships to the 2023 Summer Dance Lab via an open self-nomination process. Information for 2023 scholarships will be available in October. All Fieldwork applicants who complete the self-nomination process will receive a $25 honorarium to recognize the time and labor involved in preparing their application. For more information, please see the Fieldwork page.
TO APPLY
The FACT/SF Summer Dance Lab is designed for curious advanced and professional dancers. We are warm and open to you as a participant, and we want to learn more!
Interested dancers should send their application, as one compiled PDF, to workshop@factsf.org
Applications should include:
A brief bio
Current CV
Date on which you were fully vaccinated against COVID-19
1 page Letter of Motivation
In your letter of motivation, please address the following:
Why are you interested in the Dance Lab?
What role does dance currently play in your life?
What past experiences have you had that inform your current dance practice?
If applicable, please also share with us your past experiences of Countertechnique and information about how Countertechnique informs your current dance practice.
(Note: Please do not include headshots or other images in your application)
Within two weeks of applying, applicants will be contacted by FACT/SF regarding their participation in the Dance Lab.
TUITION
$504 (applications received by July 1)
$840 (applications received after July 1)
Applicants are accepted on a rolling basis until the Dance Lab has reached capacity (25 dancers max).
Once applicants have been accepted into the Dance Lab, they will need to pay a $150 security deposit to reserve their spot. Security deposits are non-refundable.
Remaining tuitions are due by Monday, July 11, 2022.
FACT/SF has already selected three dancers to receive scholarships to the 2022 Lab. We are unfortunately unable to provide additional discounts or funding.
SELECTED PARTICIPANTS
Once notified of acceptance and successful processing of full tuition, participants will receive a Welcome Packet. Information will include: area attractions, directions, public transportation, parking, Dance Lab Detailed Schedule, and supplemental information on Countertechnique, Gaga, FACT/SF Creative Process, and more.
QUESTIONS
If you have any questions or would like like to inform FACT/SF of any access needs, please email us at workshop@factsf.org. Or, call 415.349.0878.
ABOUT COUNTERTECHNIQUE
By continuously and sequentially directing and counter directing parts of the body through space, Countertechnique allows the moving dancer to work with an ever-changing dynamic balance. This dynamic balance reduces the pressure on the overall body structure and can be changed at any given moment. The consistent use of the counter direction in all movements is key to the technique; both the awareness and application of this principle is trained throughout the Countertechnique class. The Countertechnique theory is organized around two principal notions: the ‘toolbox’ and ‘scanning’. The toolbox is the systematically organized collection of tools for body and mind with which Countertechnique works, often visualized as a virtual map that dancers carry with them. Scanning defines the process of dancers continuously and actively observing their mindset and body in order to choose the most appropriate tool(s) from the toolbox for the situation they find themselves in. Scanning allows dancers to make active use of the toolbox in their daily practice of training, rehearsing and performing. Countertechnique was developed by Anouk van Dijk throughout her twenty-five year career as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. Over the last fifteen years, the knowledge and experience she gained – in constant dialogue with her dancers – was gradually transformed into a detailed theoretical system and a teaching method, which now together form the Countertechnique system.
In the 2022 FACT/SF Summer Dance Lab, Countertechnique will be taught by Samuel Melecio-Zambrano, Charles Slender-White, and Rosanna Tavarez.
ABOUT GAGA & Improvisation
Gaga is the movement language developed by Ohad Naharin/Batsheva in Tel Aviv, Israel. Gaga movement classes are a guided movement experience of images, ideas, directions, and prompts. We move (however large or small) for the entire class adding layer upon layer. We will float our flesh, pull our bones, experience physical climaxes, challenge what we think are our limits, become aware of our habits and change them, and take pleasure moving and dancing in a welcoming studio. We work at your own volume, so whether you have never moved or move every day, you can connect to Gaga. We allow no mirrors, and no observers.
Graham will also guide the participants through witchy improvisation sessions. We will build on what we research in Gaga and open up to our animal possibilities through movement, fantasy, and elemental energy.
In the 2022 FACT/SF Summer Dance Lab, Gaga and improvisation will be taught by James Graham.
ABOUT deep dive modules
Deep Dive Modules are 1-hour sessions during the SDL where we will take an in-depth look at one or two Countertechnique tools and/or underlying principles of Countertechnique. In addition to other topics, these modules will include the following topics:
Working with Countertechnique Tools
The Trunk and how it functions
Popping & how to release unnecessary tension in the major joints
Horizontal Falling and Dynamic Balance
Shifting Attention and Sequential Thinking
Finding the counter-direction
ORIGINAL CREATIONS
Charles Slender-White will provide individualized coaching and direction for each Lab participant for the creation of an original solo or duet. Slender-White will draw information from Countertechnique and the creative processes used to build FACT/SF’s work. There will be an informal sharing of these miniature works at the end of the Dance Lab, and dancers are permitted to ‘take the work’ with them after the Lab.
Master Classes within the lab
FACT/SF produces an annual Summer Dance Festival that happens the same week of the Lab. The 2022 SDF includes 6 different choreographers from the Bay Area, Seattle, and Pittsburgh. These artists, and any master classes they might teach, will be announced in June 2022.
ABOUT THE TEACHERS
Photo by Danny Nguyen
JAMES GRAHAM is a San Francisco based choreographer, performer, and educator. James Graham Dance Theatre, presents the work of James Graham while also curating the work of others, namely in DANCE LOVERS…duets by couples, crushes, and comrades, an annual show of duets around Valentine’s day in San Francisco. JGDT's work has been presented at ODC Theatre, Micadanses in Paris, France, in the Daegu International Dance Festival in South Korea, The Nourse Theatre and Davies Symphony Hall (commissioned by the SF Gay Men’s Chorus), UC Berkeley, Bates College, Kenyon College, University of Calgary, Canada, Kennesaw State University, The Ohio State University, Dominican University, National Queer Arts Festival, Kunst-Stoff Arts, Too Much! Festival, Movement Research at Judson Church, Joe Goode Annex, HeART of Market Festival, San Francisco City Hall Rotunda, and in the Golden Gate Park National A.I.D.S. Memorial Grove.
Graham was a choreographic mentee in Margaret Jenkins’ CHIME program in 2018. In 2017 Graham received an IZZIE for “Outstanding Performance as an Ensemble” with Sebastian Grubb for their performance in JGDT’s “Homeroom.” In 2015 he received an IZZIE award for “Outstanding Achievement in Performance for an Individual” (for his Entire Season) and was nominated that same year for an IZZIE in Outstanding Choreography for JGDT’s “Guilty Survivor.”
Graham received an M.F.A. in Dance from The Ohio State University in 2010, focusing on performance, choreography, and video. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 2005 with a B.A. in Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies. He is a member of the Joe Goode Performance Group. In 2020-21 he has been creating outdoor Movement Rituals on/for the Solstices and Equinoxes.
Photo by Kim Doeleman
SAMUEL MELECIO-ZAMBRANO, born and raised in Florida, is now based in San Francisco, California. They first encountered Countertechnique in 2017 and were so thrilled that they have continued training extensively across the globe. They attended three 'One Body, One Career' intensives (2018, 2019, 2021) and completed the Countertechnique Teacher Training in 2021. Samuel received a BFA in Dance from the University of South Florida in 2018 and following graduation, worked as a member and collaborator of Tampa City Ballet. They then relocated to Melbourne, Australia to continue their training and study Countertechnique with founder Anouk van Dijk and other certified teachers. Samuel currently dances with BANDALOOP, Robert Moses' Kin, FACT/SF, and Jennifer Perfilio Movement Works among others. They also teach regular classes at ODC Dance Commons and LINES Dance Center.
Photo by Robbie Sweeny
CHARLES SLENDER-WHITE has been a Countertechnique practitioner for 16 years, and became a Certified Teacher in 2012; there are 36 Teachers worldwide. Charles has taught Countertechnique at the American Dance Festival, Velocity Dance Center, University of Calgary, Loyola Marymount University, the University of San Francisco, CSU East Bay, L’Artere (Quebec City), Circuit-Est (Montreal), Love-In (Toronto), Chunky Move (Melbourne), and at numerous dance centers throughout the SF Bay Area. He began his dance career in 2006 with Tatiana Baganova’s Provincial Dances Theatre in Yekaterinburg, Russia. In 2008, he returned to his native California to start FACT/SF in order to make his own contributions to innovation and excellence in contemporary dance. Over the past 13 years, Charles has created 41 works, with commissions by the US Department of State, ODC Theater, CounterPulse, Acid Rain (Chelyabinsk), Dialogue Dance (Kostroma), the Yekaterinburg University of the Humanities (Yekaterinburg), and others. Described as ‘utterly absorbing’ and ‘mesmerizing’ (SF Bay Guardian), Charles’ work with FACT/SF has been performed throughout California, in Portland (Oregon), Seattle (Washington), Durham (North Carolina), Sofia (Bulgaria), Belgrade (Serbia), Zagreb (Croatia), Skopje (Macedonia), and in 7 cities across Russia, working with the US Department of State to share contemporary American culture with local Russian communities as part of their ‘American Seasons’ Program. Throughout 2012, Charles was a mentee of Elizabeth Streb as part of CHIME Across Borders at the Margaret Jenkins Dance Lab. Charles graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, with degrees in Dance & Performance Studies and English Literature.
Photo by Kim Doeleman
ROSANNA TAVAREZ has a diverse background as a performer/entertainer and has worked with Marina Ambramovic, Ryan Heffington, 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. Rosanna is one of seven certified American Countertechnique Teachers. She has had the pleasure of sharing the practice of Countertechnique throughout the US and internationally via its online platform. She serves on the faculty of USC Kaufman and CalArts School of Dance. Her dance works have been presented by The Broad Museum, REDCAT, American Dance Festival, LA Department of Cultural Affair’s LA Dance Platform, The Odyssey, Highways Performance Space, Breaking Ground Dance Festival, and Sarasota Contemporary Dance. Her works have also received support from ARC grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation, UCLA Hothouse Residency, and Show Box LA.
Banner Image Gregory Lorenzutti