Stefanie Batten Bland

IG @sbb_land & @sbb_roll

2023 Creative Capital Awardee, Stefanie Batten Bland was destined for a future in the arts. The child of a jazz composer/producer father and writer mother, and raised in Soho when it was still led by artists, Batten Bland exhibits a unique blend of African American flamboyance and European sensibility. A global artist, her work is situated at the intersection of dance-theatre, film, and installation, with a focus on the interrogation of symbols in contemporary and historical culture. The emotional content of Batten Bland's choreography is undeterred by convention yet directly accessible; its social and philosophical message is visceral.

As artistic director of Company SBB, Batten Bland established the company in France in 2008 while positioned as head choreographer at the Paris Opéra Comique. Upon returning to New York City, she received the support of Mikhail Baryshnikov as a part of the esteemed residency program at Baryshnikov Arts Center, where she continues to present work. Before establishing her own company, Batten Bland danced for Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Tanztheater Wüppertal Pina Bausch, Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More, Hungarian Pal Frenák, and Ivorian Coast creator Georges Momboye.

Known for her unique visual and movement aesthetic, Batten Bland served as movement director for Eve’s Song at the Public Theater (Forbes 2018 Best Theater) and is currently casting and movement director for Emursive Productions, as well as their performance and identity consultant for Sleep No More. She has created for fashion and lifestyle partners Louis Vuitton, VanCleef & Arpels, Hermés, and Guerlain. Her choreography is currently in active repertory at American Ballet Theater, Alvin Ailey II, Transitions Dance Company in the UK, and Frontier Danceland in Singapore. Her work has been presented at BAM Next Wave, Lincoln Center Restart Stages, Bates Dance Festival, The Yard at Martha’s Vineyard, Duke Performances, PEAK Performances, La MaMa Experimental Theater and internationally at the Spoleto Festival in Italy, Danse à Lille in France, and Tanztendenzen in Germany. She has been featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Dance Magazine, Marie Claire, and Dance Europe.

Batten Bland has created 14 dance cinema films that have been shown in international festivals from South Africa to Buenos Aires and Greece to Germany. Her latest dance film, Kolonial, has received seven US and international film awards, and was nominated for 3 Bessie Awards. Other awards and funding support include a New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project Production Grant, Jerome Robbins Award, Dance Advance, New Music USA, Bessie Schonberg Fellowship at The Yard, and Toulmin Creator at NYU Center for Ballet Arts.

Batten Bland received her MFA in interdisciplinary arts from Goddard College and is currently an Assistant Professor at Montclair State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance.