About
Stephanie Cumming is a Canadian dancer, choreographer and actress. Her work over the last twenty years has spanned the mediums of contemporary dance, theatre, film, and visual art. She was based in Vienna from 2001 to 2023.
Stephanie was born in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and grew up in Saskatchewan and northern Alberta. After her classical dance training she went on to study at the University of Calgary where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Contemporary Dance in 2000. Shortly after finishing university she relocated to Austria where she became a fixture of the Viennese contemporary dance scene.
Stephanie started collaborating with Austrian choreographer Chris Haring in 2003 and in 2005 was a co-founder of the Vienna based dance company Liquid Loft. Their work has been touring internationally ever since and in 2007 was awarded the Golden Lion at the Biennale de Venezia. She has also worked as Haring's choreographic assistant with companies such as les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and Balletto di Roma. In 2004 Haring choreographed the solo Legal Errorist for her for which she was named Outstanding Young Dancer in Ballett-Tanz Magazine. Her own work includes solos such as Ah Poetry, the short solo P.S. which was commissioned by Tanzquartier Vienna for the opening of the 2009 season, as well as her lecture performance Redneck to Cyborg: A Shared Transformation which also premiered in Tanzquartier Vienna and has gone on to tour internationally.
Since 2011 Stephanie has been a member of the ensemble of the Vienna based performance company Toxic Dreams and in 2014 premiered the full length solo i dance, therefore i talk in Tanzquartier Vienna, which was conceived and written for her by director Yosi Wanunu. She was also part of the cast of The Bruno Kreisky Look Alike for which Toxic Dreams was awarded the Nestroy Prize for Best Off Production in 2019 as well as the Nestroy nominated video installation after the end and before the beginning in 2020.
As an actress Stephanie has collaborated on various film projects with artists such as Mara Mattuschka, Erwin Wurm, Clemens von Wedermeyer, Magdalena Chmielewska, Michaela Schwentner and Harald Hund. Stephanie played the lead role in Gustav Deutsch's award winning film Shirley:Visions of Reality which premiered in 2013 at the Berlinale and continues to be screened internationally. She also played a lead role in Austrian director Daniel Hoesl's film WINWIN which premiered in 2016.
Stephanie has been a guest teacher at various dance institutions and festivals such as Tanzquartier Wien, Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD) , Fontys School for the Arts (Tilburg, NL), the University of Calgary, and Public Moves (Impulstanz).
In 2023 Stephanie moved back to Canada and currently resides in Montréal with her husband, son, and two cats.
© David Payr