Anouk van Dijk

After eight years at the helm of renowned Australian dance company Chunky Move, choreographer Anouk van Dijk has recently returned to the Netherlands, and we look forward to seeing her work again in the Dutch theatres. During the Nederlandse Dansdagen 2021, she will perform a reprise of Common Ground, her farewell performance at Chunky Move, which will be shown in the Netherlands for the first time.

A ritualistic battleground for two dance greats, Common Ground is a choreographic game of chess. Ingrained rules are upturned by unexpected moves—intricate gambits, sacrifices and reactive attacks. Anouk van Dijk and her team looked at the duet form as both a utopian ideal and a display of the inherent complexity that partnerships bring. Performed by two Australian dance icons, this breathtaking duet has become a poetic study on similarity, equality, defining territory and shifting grounds, te sting the tension between the support we need and the restrictions of codependency.

About Anouk van Dijk
Anouk van Dijk is a Dutch choreographer, director and the creator behind Countertechnique. In 2012 she was appointed Artistic Director of the renowned Australian dance company, Chunky Move. Between 1999 - 2012, she toured with her own Dutch company anoukvandijk dc extensively in the Netherlands and internationally. In 2012 she was awarded the Golden Swan, the Netherlands most prestigious dance accolade – in recognition of her outstanding artistic and academic contribution to dance in her home country. Her movement methodology Countertechnique has become known worldwide. Since 2019 Van Dijk works internationally as a free-lance choreographer, and is the Artistic Director of Countertechnique.

The Australian press on Common Ground:Common Ground is a mature work by a choreographer at the height of her powers.

***** The Age 

Common Ground is a refreshingly direct duet. The work is an impressive stripping away of artifice, props and technology, to reveal the strength and beauty of the dancers.

****Dance Australia