ROSANNA TAVAREZ
Rosanna received an MFA in Choreography from The Ohio State University and a BFA in Choreography from University of Michigan. She has a diverse background as a performer/entertainer and has had the honor of working with Marina Ambramovic, Ryan Heffington (Sia), Travis Payne (Michael Jackson), Tony Michaels (Beyonce) 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.
As a dance educator, Rosanna has taught as faculty and guest artist at numerous institutions including CalArts, University of Michigan, Loyola Marymount University, Scripps College, CalState Long Beach, Studio School, University of Southern Mississippi, Texas State University and Cal State LA. She has also had the honor of teaching Countertechnique workshops across the country for dance companies and schools, and to an international audience via the Countertechnique Online platform.
Rosanna creates her own dance-theatre work in Los Angeles under the moniker LA DANSA DANSA. Her work has been presented at The Broad Museum, American Dance Festival, REDCAT, Highways Performance Space, Breaking Ground Dance Festival, Sarasota Contemporary Dance and the LA Department of Cultural Affair’s LA Dance Platform and have been supported by ARC grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation, UCLA Hothouse Residency and Show Box LA.
As a dance educator, Rosanna has taught as faculty and guest artist at numerous institutions including CalArts, University of Michigan, Loyola Marymount University, Scripps College, CalState Long Beach, Studio School, University of Southern Mississippi, Texas State University and Cal State LA. She has also had the honor of teaching Countertechnique workshops across the country for dance companies and schools, and to an international audience via the Countertechnique Online platform.
Rosanna creates her own dance-theatre work in Los Angeles under the moniker LA DANSA DANSA. Her work has been presented at The Broad Museum, American Dance Festival, REDCAT, Highways Performance Space, Breaking Ground Dance Festival, Sarasota Contemporary Dance and the LA Department of Cultural Affair’s LA Dance Platform and have been supported by ARC grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation, UCLA Hothouse Residency and Show Box LA.
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.
In Countertechnique® classes, dancers are introduced step-by-step to the various tools – making sure, however, that the priority always lies with experiencing and enjoying the difference in moving, rather than first having to understand the tools intellectually. Classes are therefore very accessible, and can be taught to participants of all levels. Even so, gaining a full understanding of the different tools and being able to apply them in complex movement, instantaneously and often simultaneously, involves a learning process of several years, even for professional dancers. Throughout this process dancers increasingly become their own teachers, allowing them to practice and progress even at times when a teacher is not available.
SCHEDULE


Backhaus Summer Dance Intensive
Countertechnique & ImprovisationJuly 27, 2021, 12:45-3:45pm

Countertechnique in-person Class
July 17, 2021, 10:30am-12pmStomping Ground LA

Blaktinx Alumni Concert: "Smashcut"
Premiere of new dance film "(re)volver"Streaming June 24-29, 2021, 7pm

Countertechnique Online Spring Series
June 4, 10-11:30am PSTFor full schedule and registration go to
Online Spring Series | Countertechnique®

San Diego Dance Theatre Dance Concert "Other Times, Other Places"
May 21 & 22 at 6:30pm PDTMay 23 at 2:30pm PDT
Liberty Station
Performing new solo "Milonga Mia"
Click here for more information

Countertechnique Online Winter Series
March 19 & March 26, 10-11:30am PSTFor full schedule and registration go to
Online Winter Series | Countertechnique®
PAST EVENTS


Countertechnique Workshop
Jan 4-8, 2020, 10am-12pmThe Space at Diavolo

Guest Artist Residency at University of Southern Mississippi
Oct 15-19, 2019Countertechnique classes taught to students in the School of Performing and Visual Arts
New work created for the Repertory Dance Company

LA MADE: "Hybrids of Plants and of Ghosts"
October 6, 2019 @ 2:00 PMLos Angeles Public Library

Blaktinx Dance Festival
"Her Name Was Miriam"
Sept 20-21, 2019, 7:30pmBootleg Theatre
In the 1970s Rosanna Tavarez's mother moved to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic seeking a better life. As a teenager, Tavarez's mother began work in jewelry and sewing factories in New York City as an undocumented worker. In this new work-in-progress, Rosanna shares a conversation with her mother about the day the immigration officers raided one of the factories where she worked, and chaos and tragedy ensued.

American Dance Festival
July 8 - July 21, 2019Duke University
At the heart of ADF is the Summer Dance Intensive (formerly Six Week School), where dancers from around the globe come to train, create, and discover the vast possibilities of the dance world. More than a series of classes, the Summer Dance Intensive is a powerful opportunity to move, make, research, discuss, and form lifelong, career-building relationships with other dance artists. Over the course of the festival, students of all levels work each day with ADF’s diverse faculty, extraordinary musicians, and vibrant student body to create rewarding, life-changing experiences. The five-and-a-half week commitment results in the enduring, hard-won benefits that only long-term training can yield.
Rosanna Tavarez & Charles Slender-White teach Countertechnique and Improvisation for Performance

LA Dance Festival
"Her Name Was Miriam"
April 14, 2019, 6:30pmLuckman Fine Arts Complex
In the 1970s Rosanna Tavarez's mother moved to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic seeking a better life. As a teenager, Tavarez's mother began work in jewelry and sewing factories in New York City as an undocumented worker. In this new work-in-progress, Rosanna shares a conversation with her mother about the day the immigration officers raided one of the factories where she worked, and chaos and tragedy ensued.

Sarasota Contemporary Dance: In Studio Series
East Coast Premiere "Hybrids of Plants and of Ghosts"
March 15 & 16, 2019, 7pm
Dance at The Odyssey
"Hybrids of Plants and of Ghosts"February 8, 2019, 2 PM & February 3, 2019, 2 PM

Full-length premiere "Hybrids of Plants and of Ghosts"
December 7 & 8, 2018Highways Performance Space

Countertechnique for Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company Summer Intensive
July 30-31, 201810:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Brockus Project Studios
618B Moulton Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90031

Focal Change: Countertechnique Workshop
presented by TECTONIC MARROW SOCIETY
June 18-22, 2018University of Washington

REDCAT Studio: Spring 2018
Showing work-in-progress "Hybrids of Plants and of Ghosts"June 9 & 10, 2018

LA Dance Platform presented by Department of Cultural Affairs
Showing work-in-progress "Hybrids of Plants and of Ghosts"June 8, 2018
Downtown Dance and Movement Center