Kolonial is the final product of several years of research by Batten Bland and installation artist Conrad Quesen. Inspired by the colonial exposition parks of Europe, North America, and the Caribbean during the 1810s–1940s, this dance cinema work examines how we create definitions to justify systems of exploitation and oppression. Kolonial interrogates suppressed identity through physical posturing and gesture in transparent COVID spaces of today.
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Director Biography – Stefanie Batten Bland, Jean-Claude Dhien
SBB- Jerome Robbins awardee Stefanie Batten Bland is an interdisciplinary global artist who interrogates contemporary and historical culture, and situates her work at the intersections of dance-theatre, film, and installation. A 2021 commissioned artist by Baryshnikov Arts Center and 2021 Toulmin Creator for New York University’s Center for the Ballet Arts, Batten Bland is a choreographer for American Ballet Theatre’s inaugural Women’s Movement Initiative. Her 2021 Baryshnikov Arts Center dance-cinema production KOLONIAL was nominated for 3 Bessie awards, including outstanding production, visual design and costumes.
She created Company SBB in Paris in 2008 and established it in New York City in 2011, while in residency at Baryshnikov Arts Center and began her current residence at University Settlement.
The company just reopened live performance on Martha’s Vineyard with a partnership between The Yard, Martha’s Vineyard Museum, and the MV African American Heritage Trail.
Regularly produced by La Mama Experimental Theater, SBB premiered her last work “Look Who’s Coming To Dinner” at La Mama in fall 2019 for FIAF’s Crossing the Line Festival.
Known for her unique visual and movement aesthetic, she 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.
Batten Bland has been commissioned by the European Union at the United Nations, Martha’s Vineyard Museum, The Yard, Works & Process at The Guggenheim, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Gibney Dance, Rire Woodbury, The Juilliard School, Transitions Dance Company UK, Singapore Frontier Danceland, Spoleto Festival Italy, and Ailey II. She has also been commissioned by several lifestyle brands including Louis Vuitton, Geurlain, and Hermes.
Featured in The New York Times, New York Times Style Magazine, Dance Magazine, Dance Europe, Brooklyn Rail, Marie Claire, Dance Data Project, TV 5 Monde, and Dance Teacher Magazine among others, SBB is an assistant professor in the department of theatre and dance at Montclair State University where she teaches physical theatre. She received her MFA in interdisciplinary arts from Goddard College and lives in SoHo with her family.
JCD – As a child, Jean Claude Dhien grew up in the shadows and beauty of the French Alps.
As serene and straightforward of a life as it was, ‘JC’ yearned to explore the world beyond his quaint village.
At age four, Jean Claude got his first camera. It was an Indo Impera 4×4, and it illuminated a new perspective on his surroundings.
Jean Claude has come a long way since his days winding the knob of that Impera. He has been based out of London, New York, and Los Angeles, where he was fortunate enough to meet and photograph many of the most fascinating people and leaders of our time.
Through his work as a preeminent photographer, Jean Claude has developed an incredible capacity to capture compelling, provocative and soulful images of his subjects by utilizing unique locations, lighting, and styling. His work has incorporated a wide variety of subjects and locations.
Jean Claude now lives in New York with his family.
Experimental Film & Music Video Festival 
