About
Mission
The Atelier SBB INC is a dance-theatre organization based in New York that creates opportunities for experiential work to explore contemporary and historical cultural symbolism. Our focus is on the relational interplay between our ancestral roots and perceptions of legitimacy, value, and rights. We use education and performance as a means to express complex issues, creating a space where historically marginalized communities can connect and emphasize the interconnectedness of our audiences.
The Atelier SBB operates in the borderlands of our multinational partnerships, blending our ethnic identities through immersive and physical theatre. Our original works are emotional and visceral, aimed at illuminating and unpacking cultural codes.
Vision
The vision of Atelier SBB is to achieve its mission through performance, education, community building, and a focus on inclusivity by expanding our cultural partnerships both locally and globally. Through the immersive language of dance-theatre, we aim to inspire and engage audiences, encouraging them to broaden their relational boundaries and foster an interconnected society. At the Atelier, we embrace the complexities of our world, which ultimately leads to a more enlightened humanity.
Values
- •We invite learning and engagement at the table of expression.
- •We believe that art is a fundamental part of society.
- •We ground ourselves in rich collaboration with authentic voices.
- •We recognize the relationship between art and its political impact in society, and we hold ourselves accountable for our vision.
- •We strive to ensure that our art-making process is ethical, both in our work and in our lives.
- •We believe that sound financial management enables creativity and growth.
- •We believe that providing a supportive environment for all our collaborators honors this goal.
- •We commit to constructive and compassionate conflict resolution.
— Stefanie Batten Bland —
Creative Director & Choreographer Stefanie Batten Bland (SBB) is an award winning creator of proscenium, cinematic and immersive worlds that answer the quest for belonging.
2025 NYSCA Artist, 2023 Dance Magazine cover artist & Creative Capital Awardee and 2022 BAM NEXT WAVE commissioned artist, SBB was raised in SoHo when it was led by artists. SBB interrogates contemporary and historical cultural symbolism — their categories of cultural identifiers and how these identities influence human relationships. Her work is at the intersection of dance-theatre, film, and immersive experience.
SBB danced for Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Tanztheater Wüppertal Pina Bausch, Punchdrunk&aposs Sleep No More, Luna Luna, Hungarian choreographer Pal Frenák, and creator Georges Momboye of the Côte d&aposIvoire. SBB established Company SBB in France in 2008 and moved it to New York in 2012.
Known for her unique visual and movement aesthetic in the immersive field, SBB is Artistic Director of The Atelier SBB, Creative Casting & Movement Director for Life & Trust, she pioneered the methods which made her the Performance-Identity liaison for Sleep No More, and the Artistic Director of the first immersive theatre summer intensive in the USA CONCRETE, SBB is constantly pushing the boundaries of mixed reality art.
Company SBB has been presented at BAM Next Wave Festival, Lincoln Center, Bates Dance Festival, Celebrity Series (Boston), Modlin Center for the Arts (Richmond, VA), ADF, The Yard at Martha&aposs 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 amongst others.
SBB has created for fashion and lifestyle partners Louis Vuitton, Van Cleef & Arpels, Hermès, and Guerlain. She has produced 14 dance cinema films shown in international festivals in South Africa, Buenos Aires, Greece, and Germany. Her latest dance film, Kolonial, has received fourteen US and international film awards and was nominated for three Bessie Awards. She has been featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Dance Magazine, Marie Claire, and Dance Europe.
SBB receives grants and awards from National Dance Project Production NDP, Creative Capital, NYSCA, Guggenheim Works In Process, Harkness Foundation, a Jerome Robbins Award, Jerome Robbins Support Grants, a Bessie Schönberg Fellowship at The Yard, and a Toulmin Creator Fellowship at the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU.
SBB received her MFA in interdisciplinary arts from Goddard College and is currently an Associate Professor at Montclair State University&aposs Department of Theatre and Dance.
Support The Atelier
The Atelier SBB EIN 39-4527562 is a non-profit arts and educational organization. Contributions made to The Atelier SBB are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
A description of the work and current project activities for which such contributions will be used are on the Upcoming page.
Stay Up To Date With The Atelier
Subscribe
Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates.
Board of Directors
Angels
Staff & Support
Administration & General Inquiries
Amanda Edore
info@companysbb.orgGeneral Manager
Lucia Miller
info@companysbb.orgPress Representative
Janet Stapleton
stapleton.janet@gmail.comPhotographic Credits
Land and Heritage Acknowledgment
The Atelier SBB is based on the border of what is currently The Village and SoHo neighbourhoods in Manhattan (Mannahatta) of the Lenapehoking. We acknowledge and pay respect to Lenape people and ancestors past, present, and future. We also honor this unique area that held agricultural and burial spaces of freed African Americans. The Atelier feels honored to sit upon such complex heritage.