Stefanie Batten Bland News

The Public Theater announced today that two popular fall plays have extended due to strong demand, with a new block of tickets accessible on October 9 at 2 p.m.

Get a sneak peek of rehearsal photos from the world premiere of EVE'S SONG, written by Patricia Ione Lloyd and directed by Jo Bonney. EVE'S SONG runs through Sunday, December 2 with an official press opening on Wednesday, November 7.

As part of the "Ailey Ascending" 60th Anniversary celebration, the Choreography Unlocked Festival of performance, conversation, and master classes will take place at Ailey's home across two weekends - October 12 - 14 & 26- 28. Building on the success of the New Directions Choreography Lab, created by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Artistic Director Robert Battle in 2011, the festival will elevate The Joan Weill Center for Dance's role in the community as a hub for creating and presenting new work and fostering the next generation of choreographers.  

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the world premiere of EVE'S SONG, written by The Public's Emerging Writers Group alum and 2017-18 Tow Playwright-in-Residence, Patricia Ione Lloyd.

When Alvin Ailey and a small group of African-American modern dancers first took the stage in 1958, appearing at New York City's 92nd Street Y, the engagement was for one night only—but it turned out to be the start of a new era in the performing arts. Mr. Ailey became one of the groundbreaking greats in African American history, while the work of his Company grew beyond the limits of the stage to encompass education at all levels, community outreach and cultural diplomacy. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater now embodies six decades of achievement, celebrating the human spirit with performances that unite and inspire all.

Juilliard Dance announces its 2018-19 season of performances of world premieres, masterworks in repertory, and new works developed by Juilliard students. The cornerstone of the season is New Dances: Edition 2018, featuring four world-premiere dances by innovative choreographers Stefanie Batten Bland (fourth-year class), alumnus Peter Chu (third-year class), Nelly van Bommel (second-year class), and Marcus Jarrell Willis (first-year class). Performances take place December 7, 8, 10, and 11, at 7:30pm and December 9 at 3pm in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater. In the spring semester, Juilliard Spring Dances features repertory works by acclaimed choreographers: Bill T. Jones' D-Man in the Waters (Part 1); Alejandro Cerrudo's Little Mortal Jump; and Martha Graham's The Rite of Spring. Performances take place on March 27-29, at 7:30pm and March 30, at 2pm and 7:30pm in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater.

The Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University (CBA), the first international institute devoted to the creation and academic study of ballet, today announced the 27 artists and scholars who will serve as CBA Fellows in the 2018-19 academic year. The group - which represents The Center's largest and most far-reaching cohort yet - features distinguished individuals in a range of disciplines, including scholar Cecile Feza Bushidi, lighting designer Brandon Stirling Baker, choreographer Chase Brock, choreographer, filmmaker, and dancer Pontus Lidberg, and scholar Janice Ross, among others.

The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), a residency program that welcomes NYC choreographers and dance companies to CUNY campuses across the five boroughs, announces its 2018–19 awarded artists.

At a festive ribbon-cutting, celebrated on the evening of October 18, leaders of the Ailey organization joined with dancers, students, donors, and friends from New York City's dance community to open The Elaine Wynn & Family Education Wing, a 10,000-square-foot expansion of Ailey's permanent home, The Joan Weill Center for Dance.

When the 60 Pre K children at the University Settlement House on New York's Lower East Side built their own wall this past spring, its political message countered the one currently circulating through the halls of Congress. This wall, which symbolizes an embrace of all, was constructed from drawings that the children created to depict their family stories and fantasies. Their colorful works of art, drawn on cardboard sections were then connected and transformed into an interactive set created by visual artist Ben Heller for 'Welcome,' a new work choreographed and directed by the 2016 Jerome Robbins Award-winning choreographer Stefanie Batten Bland, the creative brains and heart behind the project. The original score is by Paul Damian Hogan.

The welcome mat for artists from the four corners of the globe has shone brightly at La MaMa's theater entryway for 55 years, and for the past 12, the welcome has been extended to choreographers and dancers participating in the La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival, which this season includes 17 dance companies and artists whose work asks important questions about the conditions of the world in which we are now living. The 2017 festival runs May 18-June 4.

The Playwrights Realm, led by Founding Artistic Director Katherine Kovner and Producing Director Roberta Pereira, announces the lineup for INK'D, their annual festival of new plays.

Stefanie Batten Bland, a choreographic artist and 2016 Bessie Schonberg Fellow is the Artistic Director of Company SBB. Alex Timbers is a two-time Tony nominated playwright and theater director, recipient of the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and two-time OBIE and Lortel Award winner, and co-creator and co-executive producer of the television show, Mozart in the Jungle. Both will be presented with the 2016 Jerome Robbins Award at Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) on November 7, 2016 at an invitation-only performance beginning at 6.30.

NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP, today joined Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer and members of The Friends of Queensbridge Park to celebrate the legacy of long-time park advocate Elizabeth McQueen by officially naming the park's promenade in her honor. Scroll down for photos!

Watusi Regime III: LIGHT TO DARK comes to West Park Presbyterian Church, April 15 and 16, 2016.

Over the course of 30 years, Harlem Stage has become one of the nation's leading arts organizations, achieving this distinction by commissioning, developing, producing and presenting innovative works by visionary artists of color. Their Fall 2015 season offers a variety of events, including free neighborhood concerts and ticketed headlining events, as well as lectures and roundtable discussions that advance deeper engagement with Harlem Stage's audience. All will take place in the state-of-the art flexible performance space, the Harlem Stage Gatehouse.

The upcoming performance of Winning Works: Choreographers of Color Award by The Joffrey Academy of Dance has changed venues due to last week's electrical fire at the Harris Theater, an event unrelated to the Winning Works production. The production will now take place at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut Street, and the date and time of the performance remain unchanged, which is tonight, March 1 at 7:00 pm. Winning Works ticket holders will be notified by the Joffrey Ballet box office staff about the change of venue.

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance has announced new dates for previously scheduled performances, including Chicago Opera Theater's production of Queenie Pie and Music of the Baroque's Handel & Bach-Italian Style. The Joffrey Ballet's Winning Works: Choreographers of Color Awards will now take place on March 1 at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 East Chestnut Street). New dates for the Harris Theater Presents performances of Alonzo King LINES Ballet are still to be determined. Patrons who hold tickets for the LINES Ballet performances previously scheduled for February 27 and 28 will be contacted by a Box Office representative once new dates are confirmed.