Kolonial, a collaboration between choreographer Stefanie Batten Bland and installation artist Conrad Quesen, is inspired by colonial exposition parks of Europe, North America, and the Caribbean during the 1810s-1940s. The dance cinema work interrogates systems of overharvesting, exploitation, and oppression, examining behaviors of self and community through transparent COVID barriers of isolation.
Direction and Choreography: Stefanie Batten Bland
Direction and Cinematography: Jean Claude Dhien
Scenic Installation: Conrad Quesen
Installation Assistant: Anthony Quesen
Costume Design: Shane Ballard
Hair and Makeup: Damian Monzillo
Musical Composition: Grant Cutler
Performers: Miguel Anaya, Stefanie Batten Bland, Yeman Brown, Rachel Watson Jih, Jennifer Payán, Paul Singh, Latra A. Wilson
Montage: Victoria Roseburgh
First Assistant AD: Victoria Roseburgh
Production Manager: Emma Rivera
Film Location: BAC's Jerome Robbins Theater
Stefanie Batten Bland was a 2012 BAC Resident Artist and BAC Presents Artist.
In Conversation: Stefanie Batten Bland with Eva Yaa Asantewaa
BAC presents a live-streamed conversation with Batten Bland and writer and curator Eva Yaa Asantewaa on Tuesday, May 11 at 5PM ET.
Live on ZOOM
Free / Registration required here beginning May 3 at 5pm ET
BAC Artist Commissions made possible with generous leadership support from Anonymous, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Howard Gilman Foundation, Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Kaye Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Jerome Robbins Foundation, Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, Thompson Family Foundation, and Robert and Kathleen Wallace.
Lead support of dance programming at BAC is provided by the Rudolf Nureyev Endowment.
As of January, 2021.
May 11, 2021, Live on ZOOM: In conjunction with the premiere of "Kolonial," choreographer Stefanie Batten Bland talked with writer and curator Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
Goings On About Town: Stefanie Batten Bland
Caged In
IMPRESSIONS: Stefanie Batten Bland's "Kolonial" with Installation by Conrad Quesen, a World Premiere Commissioned by Baryshnikov Arts Center
Stefanie Batten Bland: Kolonial

Stefanie Batten Bland
Jerome Robbins awardee Stefanie Batten Bland is an interdisciplinary global artist who interrogates contemporary and historical culture. She situates her work at the intersection of dance-theatre and installation.
Photos: Maria Baranova, JC Dhien