BIOGRAPHY
Francesca Dominguez is a choreographer, performing artist, and educator whose approach merges the realms of dance and anatomical exploration. Holding an MFA in Dance from Hunter College, her dedication to the craft earned her the prestigious Shuster Award for Outstanding Master’s Thesis in 2022. Francesca's artistic journey is marked by a deep engagement with Countertechnique and her current studies in Functional Anatomy. She had the privilege of training extensively with the founder Countertechnique Anouk van Dijk for the past nine years.
Francesca's teaching portfolio reflects her versatility and commitment to the art form, with current positions as an educator for Gibney Dance Company, The Juilliard School, Barnard/Columbia Dance, the Gibney PRO Program, Mark Morris Dance Group, and Peridance Center. Her training, honed through her studies at Hunter College, CSU Long Beach, and the Lines Ballet Training Program, informs her nuanced approach to dance. Her coursework is structured to give dancers a functional and applicable understanding of anatomy as it relates to movement inviting dancers to develop a clear relationship to their own anatomical skeleton and major joints that will facilitate freedom, efficiency, and control in dancing and performing. After performing for 3 years with Soluq Dance Theater in NYC, Francesca now brings her artistry to recurring freelance projects with NYC based choreographers SAXYN Dance Works, Maria Angela Talavera Tejeda, and Liony Garcia.
Venturing into choreography in 2020, Francesca made a notable debut with "Galvanizing Steel," a sold-out show at Gibney Dance Theater that captivated audiences. Her choreographic work was further recognized with a grant and performance residency from The Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL) in September 2023, and she was selected for the Doug Varone Devices Performance in 2022. In 2024, Francesca was commissioned to create a new work as a faculty choreographer for Barnard Dance Department. Through her creative work, Francesca remains devoted to exploring the beauty and complexity of dance by bridging the worlds of dance and anatomical science. Her approach aims to enrich the art form with thoughtful, applied principles that elevate both technique and expression.
CLASS DESCRIPTION
The Countertechnique® class is a contemporary dance technique class. It stretches, coordinates and strengthens the body, making the dancer sweat, build stamina and really move. The class starts with a recurring set of exercises, allowing dancers to investigate the Countertechnique® principles in detail. The second half of the class consists of changing components, working towards luscious movement combinations and jumping at the end. The Countertechnique® class results in dancers using less energy, losing their fear of taking risks and gaining speed in changing direction.