FACT/SF’s 2025 Summer Dance Lab is August 14-23, 2025, at ODC Theater in san francisco
NEW THIS YEAR
We’re introducing a new format for this year’s Summer Dance Lab to provide more individualized instruction and 1-1 coaching for each participant based on their specific needs, interests, and goals. Our aim is to work directly with each dancer to better understand what they’d like to work on, how to best support that work, and to ultimately make the Lab more personal, specific, and impactful for each individual attendee. This year:
Each participant will attend 4 live virtual Zoom sessions prior to the start of in-person instruction: two 90-minute sessions with all participants and core faculty to get to know each other a bit, and two 45-minute one-on-one sessions between each participant and Charlie to discuss goals, challenges, and desired outcomes.
The Lab will be limited to 15 participants so that each dancer can receive as much individual attention as possible.
Our intention is for participants to already have some familiarity with each other, the Lab faculty, and the FACT/SF team when everyone arrives on day one. This will allow us to begin our work together with a higher degree of comfort and mutual understanding than is offered at most dance workshops. We will be able to dive right in from the start, exploring, getting curious, working rigorously, having fun, and pursuing the specific goals of each individual as well as those of the group as a whole.
details
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
OVERVIEW
The 2025 FACT/SF Summer Dance Lab is designed for dancers new to Countertechnique and for those who have already had some experience with the practice. Within an open, investigative environment, a small group of participants will spend 9 days learning and experimenting with Countertechnique, partnering, and FACT/SF Repertory to heighten awareness, distill intention, have fun, get sweaty, and explore unknown terrain. Like all of FACT/SF’s workshops, the Lab is intentionally inclusive and non-competitive. This year’s Lab has three main goals: 1. working directly with each dancer to help them pursue their own individual goals, 2. introducing new dancers to Countertechnique and helping those already familiar with it deepen their level of understanding and ease of application, and 3. learning how to utilize Countertechnique tools in choreography.
The Lab will accept a maximum of 15 participants. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the Lab has reached capacity. All Lab participants will also receive complimentary tickets to attend performances in the 2025 FACT/SF Summer Dance Festival. Instructors at this year’s Lab include Artistic Director Charlie Slender-White, Countertechnique Senior Teacher Joy Davis, and Countertechnique Teacher Maggie Costales. Additional instructors will be announced at a later date.
DAILY SCHEDULE & DETAILS
Virtual (All times Pacific Time):
July 1, 4:30pm-6pm - First group meeting with all Lab dancers and teachers
July 2-11, Each dancer will sign up for their first, 45-minute conversation with Charlie. Exact time TBC.
July 14-25, Each dancer will sign up for their second, 45-minute conversation with Charlie. Exact time TBC.
August 5, 4:30pm-6pm - Second group meeting with all Lab dancers and teachers
In Person (August 14-23):
August 14, 10am-4pm
August 15 & 16, 10am-5pm
August 17, 10am-2:30pm (and 3pm Summer Dance Festival performance)
August 18, Break
August 19, 10am-3pm
August 20, 10am-5pm
August 21, 10am-4pm
August 22 & 23, 10am-5pm
All days will include a lunch break.
Though the schedule varies from day to day, a typical day might look like this:
10am-1pm – Countertechnique Class & Toolbox w/Joy Davis
1pm-2pm – Lunch
2pm-3pm - Practical Tools with Charlie Slender-White
3pm-5pm – FACT/SF Repertory with FACT/SF Company Members Keanu Brady & LizAnne Roman Roberts
LOCATION
ODC Theater
3153 17th Street (at Shotwell)
San Francisco, CA 94110
ODC Theater has all-gender bathrooms.
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
1 page Letter of Motivation
In your letter of motivation, please address the following:
Why are you interested in the 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 Lab.
TUITION
$850 (applications received by May 30)
$1,150 (applications received after May 30)
Applicants are accepted on a rolling basis until the Lab has reached capacity (15 dancers max).
Once applicants have been accepted into the Lab, they will need to pay a $200 security deposit to reserve their spot. Security deposits are non-refundable.
Remaining tuitions are due by Friday, June 27, 2025.
FACT/SF has already selected 2 dancers to receive scholarship and 2 dancers to receive work study opportunities to the 2025 Lab. We are unfortunately unable to provide additional discounts or funding. Those interested in applying for a scholarship to the 2026 Summer Dance Lab should apply via our Fieldwork Open Application Process, which will open in fall 2025. More information about this process can be found here.
accessibility & covid protocol
The FACT/SF Summer Dance Lab is intentionally inclusive, and FACT/SF continues to evolve and develop our accessibility practices. For 2025, that includes providing ASL Interpretation for the entire Lab should any participate need/want it, being in conversation with participants re: COVID safety and risk, and any other access needs or accommodations participants might have. Our goal is to create a space that removes as many barriers as possible, and that acknowledges each dancer as a whole person.
In order to make the Lab as safe as possible, FACT/SF will continue to evaluate and revise COVID protocol as the Lab nears. Our priority is to accommodate the needs of as many dancers as possible. This might mean required on-site covid testing daily (which FACT/SF would provide), required masking while indoors, etc. Any dancers interested in attending the Lab who have specific needs regarding COVID safety should contact us ASAP to discuss possible accommodations. We will publish a draft of our COVID policy by the first week of August 2025.
Please email workshop@factsf.org with any questions about accessibility and/or to share access needs. We can also be reached via phone at 415 349 0878.
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, Lab Detailed Schedule, and supplemental information on Countertechnique, FACT/SF Creative Process, and more.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Scholarships and Work-Study opportunities for the Summer Dance Lab were available as part of our 2025 Fieldwork Applications, which are now closed. Those interested in applying for a scholarship to the 2026 Summer Dance Lab should apply via our Fieldwork Open Application Process, which will open in fall 2025. More information about this process can be found here.
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 2025 FACT/SF Summer Dance Lab, Countertechnique will be taught by Charlie Slender-White, Joy Davis and Maggie Costales.
ABOUT THE TEACHERS
Charles Slender-White. Photo by Robbie Sweeny.
CHARLES SLENDER-WHITE has been a Countertechnique practitioner for 20 years, and became a Certified Teacher in 2012; there are 60 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 157 years, Charles has created 42 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. From 2021-2022, Charles served as ODC Theater’s Resident Strategist for Curation and Creative Partnerships, and he co-curated the 2022 ODC Theater Season with amara tabor-smith. Throughout 2012, he 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.
MAGGIE COSTALES is a New York City based dance artist, teacher, and dramaturg. She earned her B.F.A. from The Boston Conservatory in 2018 training under acclaimed teachers such as Joy Davis, Kurt Douglas, Marcus Schulkind and Danielle Davidson. She became a certified Countertechnique® Teacher after successfully completing her teacher training in August of 2023. Maggie currently teaches Countertechnique® at Gibney Dance Center, Peridance, and Mark Morris Dance Center, has guest taught at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Adelphi University, and Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and led workshops at Groundworks.Space in upstate New York. Additionally, Maggie is a co-founder and dramaturg for PVMNT alongside her creative partner Christopher Kinsey. She is the administrative and production assistant to Joy and Alex Davis (The Davis Sisters) and has collaborated with them since 2019, both in their duet collaborative as well as individual artists. As a freelance dancer Maggie is currently dancing with Thryn Saxon of SAXYN Dance Works and Takehiro Ueyama of TAKE Dance.
JOY DAVIS is a dance artist, educator, and mother. She is a Senior Countertechnique® Teacher and holds an MFA in Choreography & Performance from Smith College. Joy has been on faculty at Boston Conservatory at Berklee since 2016; is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at Davidson College. Joy has taught at Harvard University, Smith College, Wesleyan University, and UNC Charlotte, the Juilliard School, American Dance Festival (ADF), FACT/SF Dance Lab, and One Body One Career Countertechnique® Intensive. joyproject is a platform for creation, collaboration and production, having created numerous independent works, commissions for colleges and dance companies in North America. Together with Alexander Davis, Joy co-founded The Davis Sisters (TDS), creating absurdist dance theater in which they play magnified versions of themselves. Joy is a collective member of Goodyear Arts, a recipient of NC Choreographers Residency Project and ASC Creative Mecklenburg grant, and is featured in the Sovereign Body gallery show at The McColl Center in Charlotte. She regularly collaborates with husband, Eric Mullis, and cherishes the integration of artistic and family life.
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