Stefanie Batten Bland To Present Two New Works This Spring

This spring, interdisciplinary artist Stefanie Batten Bland will present two works that interrogate contemporary and historical culture.

The first is her new dance cinema work Kolonial, commissioned by the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC). Created in collaboration with installation artist Conrad Quesen, Kolonial is inspired by the colonial exposition parks of Europe, North America, and the Caribbean during the 1810s-1940s. It will premiere May 3-17 as part of BAC's digital spring season. The two-week-long screening will be followed by a creative residency and preview of Batten Bland's new dance-theater installation, Embarqued, at The Yard in Chilmark, MA. This in-progress work examines existing relationships to historical memorials and will be performed live outdoors for limited audiences during Company SBB's residency June 1-21.

Batten Bland has been creating performance at the intersection of dance-theater and installation since forming her company in 2008, and has presented her work across the US and in Europe. The past two years, she has also been building on her longtime dance cinema practice with recent commissions for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Oxford University, Duke Performances, and Works & Process at the Guggenheim. These include digital projects during the COVID pandemic exploring themes of isolation, oppression, and safe spaces.

In addition to making work, Batten Bland has been teaching and speaking on panels, and is currently working as Casting Creative & Movement Director for Emursive Productions. In this role, she is addressing casting biases across parallel lines of dance and theater as well as scenic design and costuming to advise on and support inclusive casting reflective of our times. Casting biases in the performing arts is the subject of Batten Bland's LiveTalk at La MaMa on March 24.

For more information about SBB, visit www.companysbb.org.