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.
She began studying Countertechnique with Master Teacher Nina Wollny in 2011 and in 2014 she traveled to Australia to study with Anouk Van Dijk, Countertechnique’s orginator and current Artistic Director of Chunky Move. She was selected to attend the Countertechnique Teacher Training program in 2016, and is now one of six certified American Countertechnique Teachers. Rosanna has taught Countertechnique for Diavolo and Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, the Los Angeles Dance Festival, LACDC Summer Intensive and Sarasota Contemporary Dance. She is now on faculty at Relativity School and CalState LA. Rosanna creates her own dance-theatre work in Los Angeles under the moniker LA DANSA DANSA. Her works have been supported by ARC grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation, UCLA Hothouse Residency and Show Box LA.
She began studying Countertechnique with Master Teacher Nina Wollny in 2011 and in 2014 she traveled to Australia to study with Anouk Van Dijk, Countertechnique’s orginator and current Artistic Director of Chunky Move. She was selected to attend the Countertechnique Teacher Training program in 2016, and is now one of six certified American Countertechnique Teachers. Rosanna has taught Countertechnique for Diavolo and Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company, the Los Angeles Dance Festival, LACDC Summer Intensive and Sarasota Contemporary Dance. She is now on faculty at Relativity School and CalState LA. Rosanna creates her own dance-theatre work in Los Angeles under the moniker LA DANSA DANSA. Her works have been supported by ARC grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation, UCLA Hothouse Residency and Show Box LA.
PROJECTS
IN BOCCA AL LUPO
WHERE THIS TAKES US
THE LONGEST DISTANCE
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
Sarasota Contemporary Dance: In Studio Series
East Coast Premiere "Hybrids of Plants and of Ghosts"
March 15 & 16, 2019, 7pm
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.
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
PAST EVENTS
Dance at The Odyssey
"Hybrids of Plants and of Ghosts"February 8, 2019, 2 PM & February 3, 2019, 2 PM
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
REDCAT Studio: Spring 2018
Showing work-in-progress "Hybrids of Plants and of Ghosts"June 9 & 10, 2018
Focal Change: Countertechnique Workshop
presented by TECTONIC MARROW SOCIETY
June 18-22, 2018University of Washington
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
Full-length premiere "Hybrids of Plants and of Ghosts"
December 7 & 8, 2018Highways Performance Space