Movers & Shapers: Stefanie Batten Bland

Jerome Robbins awardee Stefanie Batten Bland, is an interdisciplinary global artist who interrogates contemporary and historical culture. She situates her work at the intersection of dance-theatre and installation. A 2021 commissioned artist by Baryshnikov Arts Center, Duke Performances, 2021 Toulmin Creator fellow Center for Ballet Arts at NYU, and 2019-2020 choreographer for American Ballet Theatre’s inaugural Women’s Movement Initiative. She created Company SBB in Paris in 2008 and established it in New York City in 2011, when she was in residency at Baryshnikov Arts Center and began her current residence at University Settlement. Regularly produced by LaMama Experimental Theater, she premiered her latest work “Look Who’s Coming To Dinner” at LaMama in fall 2019 for FIAF’s Crossing the Line Festival.

COVID commissions include the digital performance of EU Day for the European Union at the United Nations, a distanced films for Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, Works & Process at the Guggenheim and Duke Performances digital world premiere. Known for her unique visual and movement aesthetic, she served as movement director for “Eve’s Song” at the Public Theater (Forbes 2018 Best Theatre) and is currently Casting and Movement Director for the 2021 immersive production Life & Trust by Emursive. SBB directs dance cinema films that play worldwide. Recent live commissions include: Ailey II, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Gina Gibney Dance, The Juilliard School, Singapore Frontier Danceland, Spoleto Festival Italy, and The American Center for Art & Culture in Paris where she is a resident artist. Featured Publication: The New York Times, Dance Europe, Brooklyn Rail, Marie Claire, BOMB Magazine,Dance Data Project, TV 5 Monde and Dance Teacher Magazine among others, she will celebrate Company SBB’s 10th U.S. anniversary in the 2021-2022 season with her new work Embarqued. She received her MFA in interdisciplinary arts from Goddard College, is Assistant Professor at Montclair State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance, and lives in SoHo with her family.