Workshops
Photo by Lynn Lane, courtesy of Open Dance Project.
Countertechnique Workshop with Atticus Griffin
Sunday, January 4, 2026
12:00Pm to 2:00pm
New Expressive Works
(810 SE Belmont St.)
Tuition: $20
Developed by Anouk van Dijk, Countertechnique is a contemporary dance technique that integrates intellectual intention with physical activity, strengthens and stretches the body, and enables dancers to move bigger, more fluidly, and more spatially. The workshop will begin with a recurring series of exercises that invite participants to investigate the Countertechnique principles in depth. The second half of class will introduce shifting components, building toward expansive movement phrases and dynamic jumping combinations. Dancers can expect to use their energy more efficiently, lose their fear of taking risks, and gain speed and clarity in changing direction.
Photo by Lynn Lane
About Atticus
Atticus Griffin started dancing at age 18 in his hometown of Burleson, Texas. He continued his training at Texas State University, and later the University of Texas at Austin, receiving a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography. While in Austin he began working as a freelance dancer, performing with multiple dance companies such as Ballet Concerto, Chamacos Dance Company, Dance Theatre X, NobleMotion Dance, and other guest performances. His most notable appearance was in the inaugural cast of Ventana Ballet in Austin, Texas as the Nutcracker in The Watchmakers Song. He has been a rehearsal director and choreographer for Open Dance Project 2 for productions Wonka!, Peter and Wendy, and Alice, and was a featured choreographer for ODP’s 2023 Shortcuts production. He recently completed the Countertechnique Teacher Training Program in Amsterdam, and received his Teaching Certificate. He is one of only two certified Countertechnique teachers in the state of Texas. This is his fifth season as an artist with Open Dance Project.
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.