Counter Technique Workshop, 2014

CounterTechnique Workshop by Jenia Kasatkina
Creator Anouk van Djik
www.countertechnique.com
Currently the Artistic Director of Chunky Move

I wrote to Chunky Move and asked them if they would be willing to come to Malaysia to share CounterTechnique which was absolutely amazing in my experience when I did their morning classes at Chunky Move taught my Anouk van Djik herself who was an incredible teacher. She made it so easy to remember, I still remember it till today.

I started with the evening open classes but then the administrator recommended me to try the morning classes and that gave me a bit more confidence to gather up the courage to go as the morning classes were company classes and you would be amongst the Chunky Move dancers. It was a little more relieving when there were many others that also joined the class but I was at a stage where I had just left Malaysia, betrayed, angry, on fire guns blazing and my body was in tense knots or what felt like it. CounterTechnique was a breath of fresh air. In a way, it healed me. It was a release and Alexander based technique but basically it is Anouk van Djik’s. I wish more dancers would learn this technique because it creates incredible loose and agile bodies.

So, her husband who is also the Manager of Chunky Move replied my email and a wonderful dancer Jenia Kasatkina replied she was interested to come to Malaysia to help me. So I organised and Jenia Kasatkina flew to Kuala Lumpur herself to teach the first ever Countertechnique workshop in Malaysia and South east Asia in 2014 courtesy of Anouk van Djik to share the practice in 2014. We had no DPac, no KuAsh theatre at that time and I am very grateful to Mr. Wong Fook Choon and his wife for embracing Jenia Kasatkina and for the opportunity to his students to learn CounterTechnique.