ABOUT US
COMPANY STEVE was founded in 2020 in Berlin by the dancer/choreographer Verena Steffen.
Having worked nationally and internationally over several years, Verena Steffen decided to form a Contemporary Dance Company with the dancers/performers of her DanceTheater piece DANCE LITTLE SPARROW that she had created in 2019.
Company STEVE locates its art where people are. In doing so, they dissolve the boundary between stage and
audience space and people sometimes even become part of the danceartwork themselves. Socially relevant themes are
made accessible and directly tangible for everyone through the setting, time and character of the performances. They present themselves not only as
performers but also as contact partners at eye level in order to incorporate the encounters with the audience into their artistic work.
Mostly wrapped into a real storyline, with the use of mixed media and versatile props, Verena Steffen leads the choreography into abstraction and leaves the audience freedom for their own interpretations. Inner and outer conflicts of the characters are presented, as well as their processing mechanisms and peculiarities.
As a starting point of every piece there is always a story, an inner impulse, a feeling, an image or a certain event which is transformed into movement and gives the audience an artistic view of what is happening around and inside them.
In the choreographic process, Verena Steffen actively involves the dancers and their subconscious and intuitions. The subconscious, the greatest source of knowledge, where everything is stored, small nuances, wiser than the mind and infinitely multifaceted, is her greatest tool to explore and create new artistic approaches.
"When I start to create, I don't know what I'm doing. From an idea, something simply emerges. Only when the puzzle pieces come together do I discover the logical connections, the stories and the intentions behind each individual character. So in the creative process I let the subconscious consciously rule over my mind to discover a deeper and complex truth.”
* * *
Having worked nationally and internationally over several years, Verena Steffen decided to form a Contemporary Dance Company with the dancers/performers of her DanceTheater piece DANCE LITTLE SPARROW that she had created in 2019.
Company STEVE locates its art where people are. In doing so, they dissolve the boundary between stage and
audience space and people sometimes even become part of the danceartwork themselves. Socially relevant themes are
made accessible and directly tangible for everyone through the setting, time and character of the performances. They present themselves not only as
performers but also as contact partners at eye level in order to incorporate the encounters with the audience into their artistic work.
Mostly wrapped into a real storyline, with the use of mixed media and versatile props, Verena Steffen leads the choreography into abstraction and leaves the audience freedom for their own interpretations. Inner and outer conflicts of the characters are presented, as well as their processing mechanisms and peculiarities.
As a starting point of every piece there is always a story, an inner impulse, a feeling, an image or a certain event which is transformed into movement and gives the audience an artistic view of what is happening around and inside them.
In the choreographic process, Verena Steffen actively involves the dancers and their subconscious and intuitions. The subconscious, the greatest source of knowledge, where everything is stored, small nuances, wiser than the mind and infinitely multifaceted, is her greatest tool to explore and create new artistic approaches.
"When I start to create, I don't know what I'm doing. From an idea, something simply emerges. Only when the puzzle pieces come together do I discover the logical connections, the stories and the intentions behind each individual character. So in the creative process I let the subconscious consciously rule over my mind to discover a deeper and complex truth.”
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ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
VERENA STEFFEN (DE)
Verena Steffen completed her dance education at Tammy Allen Dance Academy in the USA and at Iwanson Internationale Schule für zeitgenössischen Tanz in Munich. Among others, she has danced for Cinevox Junior Company, Company Raumflucht and Company urbanReflects and has been on stage at Gasteig in Munich and at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. She has toured through France for the Theater Festival in Avignon with the Company Cie.Se7en SiStars. During the seasons 2014 and 2015 she has worked at Bad Hersfelder Festspiele as an assistant Choreographer and has been engaged as a dancer and choreographer in the production of the dance theater piece B.R.O.T. under the direction of Phillipe Tibbal in Berlin. Her own choreographies, such as the dance art project REALITY CHECK have been shown in various theaters in Germany and Switzerland.
www.verenasteffen.de
Verena Steffen completed her dance education at Tammy Allen Dance Academy in the USA and at Iwanson Internationale Schule für zeitgenössischen Tanz in Munich. Among others, she has danced for Cinevox Junior Company, Company Raumflucht and Company urbanReflects and has been on stage at Gasteig in Munich and at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. She has toured through France for the Theater Festival in Avignon with the Company Cie.Se7en SiStars. During the seasons 2014 and 2015 she has worked at Bad Hersfelder Festspiele as an assistant Choreographer and has been engaged as a dancer and choreographer in the production of the dance theater piece B.R.O.T. under the direction of Phillipe Tibbal in Berlin. Her own choreographies, such as the dance art project REALITY CHECK have been shown in various theaters in Germany and Switzerland.
www.verenasteffen.de
Choreographers Assistant/Dancer
SINJA VÖLL (DE)
Sinja is working as a contempory dancer, choreographer and teacher, based in Berlin. After receiving her Bachelor Degree in Contemporary Dance from "Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln" she worked with choreographers such as Ted Stoffer, Georg Reischl, Sarah Vella and "Kollektiv Anderer Tanz Würzburg". She created her own choreographies as a member and founder of the "white.spot.kollektiv". Since 2016 she is performing the shadow theater piece "Der standhafte Zinnsoldat" of Stefan Wey Kompagnie in different theaters in Germany, Switzerland, France and Luxembourg. Lately she was seen in a project of C-Company led by Jan Peter Uhr in an interdisciplinary dance installation at Uferstudios Berlin. She is a certified teacher for Vinyasa and Yin Yoga. www.sinjajvoell.com
Sinja is working as a contempory dancer, choreographer and teacher, based in Berlin. After receiving her Bachelor Degree in Contemporary Dance from "Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln" she worked with choreographers such as Ted Stoffer, Georg Reischl, Sarah Vella and "Kollektiv Anderer Tanz Würzburg". She created her own choreographies as a member and founder of the "white.spot.kollektiv". Since 2016 she is performing the shadow theater piece "Der standhafte Zinnsoldat" of Stefan Wey Kompagnie in different theaters in Germany, Switzerland, France and Luxembourg. Lately she was seen in a project of C-Company led by Jan Peter Uhr in an interdisciplinary dance installation at Uferstudios Berlin. She is a certified teacher for Vinyasa and Yin Yoga. www.sinjajvoell.com
DANCERS/PERFORMERS
MARIA GORBUNOVA (EST)
Maria is a native of Tallinn, Estonia. She graduated from a Tallinna Tantsuakadeemia in Estonia at the age of 16. Alongside dancing, she also successfully finished LA Klaverikool with a major in a Classical Piano. After receiving her Bachelor Degree in Dance and Anatomy from LeSoCo (London, UK), she moved to Budapest, Hungary, where she joined Budapest Dance Theater. She continues to work as a freelance dancer and a dance teacher till now.
"The thing that triggers me the most in any form of art lies in reaching and surpassing the limits of my own body and mind in a range of different styles and techniques. "
Maria is a native of Tallinn, Estonia. She graduated from a Tallinna Tantsuakadeemia in Estonia at the age of 16. Alongside dancing, she also successfully finished LA Klaverikool with a major in a Classical Piano. After receiving her Bachelor Degree in Dance and Anatomy from LeSoCo (London, UK), she moved to Budapest, Hungary, where she joined Budapest Dance Theater. She continues to work as a freelance dancer and a dance teacher till now.
"The thing that triggers me the most in any form of art lies in reaching and surpassing the limits of my own body and mind in a range of different styles and techniques. "
ASSISTANT:
KATHARINA SCHEIDTMANN
MUSICIAN/COMPOSER
MORITZ MENTZEL
FILMING/EDITING
JOSEPH DEVITT TREMBLAY / ALVARO RODRIGUEZ
PUBLIC RELATIONS/ SOCIAL MEDIA
MARIA GORBUNOVA, SINJA VÖLL
WEBSITE
MARIA GORBUNOVA