Stefanie Nelson is the Founder and Director of Stefanie Nelson Dancegroup (SND), a contemporary dance company based in NYC, and DANCE ITALIA, an international summer dance program in Lucca, Italy. Her “instinctual, untamed, and edgy” (Eva Yaa Asantewaa) choreographic work is defined by an intuitive approach that distills deeply personal ideas into highly kinetic, expressive and provocative works rooted in cross-media collaboration with artists working in music, video and visual arts. Presented internationally in Canada, Mexico, and throughout Italy, company performance highlights include the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Fabbrica Europa, DanceNOW @ DTW and Joe’s Pub, Festival de la Ciudad (MEXICO), Boston CYBER-ARTS festival, Whitney Museum (collaboration / Justin Randolph Thompson), and a live broadcast on ABC-TV’s morning show.
Ongoing SND community projects include Girls Move Us, the Moving Memory Project, & Everyone Can Dance disability workshops and performances in NYC.
Company residencies include the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Fouricentro, Bessie Shoenberg Choreographer’s Residency at The Yard (MA), Dance New Amsterdam; and space grants from The Florence Dance Center (ITALY), Company Blu (ITALY), and the Harkness Program at the 92nd Street Y.
Recent company support includes the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Mayor's office, NYC Department for the Aging, and the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone.
Identified by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) as an ‘Emerging Leader’ in the field of dance, Nelson was invited to participate in a year-long Arts Administration mentorship designed to invest in cultural infrastructure, to create a positive effect on the arts field by building stronger connections and shared knowledge between artists and arts administrators. She was a panelist for NYFA’s Choreography Fellowship awards and has been an NYFA Mentor for the past two years (2018 & 2019). Independent choreographic projects include NYC Couture Fashion Week, Flying Tiger's NYC store opening, & feature film Plan-B.
Entering the dance field as a performer, notably as a soloist with Anna Sokolow’s Player’s Project, Nelson is an accomplished teacher having taught at many studios and educational institutions worldwide.
