Stephanie Scheubeck is a mutlidisciplinary artist-researcher. Her work is rooted in her embodied experience in dance, choreography/performance, video art and academic practice-based research. Through her performances, films and audiovisual installations she creates immersive atmospheres that evoke a sensory-haptic experience for the audience and challenge habitual perceptions of the world. Scheubeck’s area of research is the relationship between synesthesia, embodiment and dance. As a synesthete artist-researcher, Scheubeck is concerned with conveying a comprehensive understanding of synesthesia. With her work, she aims to promote diversity in perception as a strengthening force for society.
Her artistic processes and aesthetics are inspired by her own many forms of synaesthesia: she perceives, among other things, sound and music, physical sensations and smells as colored textured, spatially arranged, shapes. After learning about synesthesia herself at the age of 33, she realized the uniqueness of each individual’s perception and the potential of this diversity for society to an unprecedented extent. In her works, Scheubeck abstracts the „natural“ world into a moving imagery of shapes and colors that stimulates kinesthetic empathy and sensory experiences. She creates a space in which reality and abstraction meet and explores this field of tension. She loves interdisciplinary and collaborative working environments.
Scheubeck is the founder and artistic director of PRISMA / Sound & Colour Production, with which she has been developing award-winning artistic works, workshops and lectures on the connection between dance, synesthesia and embodiment, which have been shown nationally and internationally since 2017. Through these formats, the production creates space for diversity and engagement with synesthesia, thereby creating new possibilities in relation to physical, emotional and mental perception, as well as physical and linguistic communication.
Her current artistic research ALL IS LIGHT is funded by the Fund for Performing Arts with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of NEUSTART KULTUR and by the Cultural Office of the City of Freiburg i. Br. in cooperation with the E-Werk Freiburg.
Her choreographic research on the neurodiverse phenomenon of synesthesia to promote the diversity of perception in dance and society (2021) was funded by the Dis-Tanz-Solo scholarship from BKM/ Neustart Kultur/Dis-Tanzen/ Dachverband Tanz Deutschland. In 2021, Scheubeck received a scholarship for her research from the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg. She has repeatedly received scholarships from the Goethe Institute with PRISMA / Sound & Colour Production. In 2017-2018, she conducted performative research on dance, synesthesia, embodiment (sound & colour) as a scholarship holder of the Percolate Residency (IRL), the Porthleven Prize Residency (GB), the Research & Development Residency/ Bath Spa University (GB) and the DanceSeedCreate scholarship (GB).
Stephanie published her research on dance improvisation and synesthesia, Colours on the surface of my body in motion: The relationship between synesthesia and dance improvisation , in the Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices (Intellect Publishers) . She presented this research in the form of artistic works, lectures and workshops at specialist symposia on dance and somatics, including Narrating the Somatic & Queering the Somatic/ Middlesex University London (UK), Bodily Undoing: Somatic Activism and Performance Cultures as Practices of Critique/ Bath Spa University (UK) as well as at Tafelhalle Nuremberg/ Barbara Bess (GER), AEDES Berlin, and many more.
Video art is an important medium in Stephanie’s work. She depicts the external world through the lens in order to make synaesthetic perception tangible. Her video art work feeds into her audiovisual installations, digital live performances and screendance films. Her film spectra won the Jury Award at the 1st International Screendance Festival Freiburg (GER) and was nominated for the Outstanding Student Work Award/ Light Moves Festival for Screendance (IRL). In 2018 she received the WomenCineMakers Award from WomenCineMakers Magazine.
Scheubeck’s works have been shown internationally at the American Dance Festival (USA), Light Moves Festival for Screendance (IRL), Moving Body Festival (BG), Seyr Festival Teheran (IRN), Dance Days Chania (GRE), SinemaDans Film Festival Ankara (TUR), Kaltstart Festival Hamburg/ POOL-International Dance Film Festival/ Grüner Salon-Volksbühne Berlin/ Savvy Contemporary Gallery/ Dock11 (GER) and many more. Scheubeck also works regularly as a choreographer and collaborator in external projects, e.g. with artist Young In Hong for Korea Artist Prize/ MMCA Seoul (KOR)/ site-specific performance Un-Splitting. She developed the synesthetic-choreographic lighting concept of the audio-visual light installation Sinnes!Organ/ Luminale Frankfurt and accompanied numerous dance theater productions (including Laura Heinecke & Company/ Fabrik Potsdam, Miranda Markgraf/ Dock11, Uferstudios Berlin).
Stephanie teaches and holds workshops in diverse contexts. From 2020-2018 Stephanie Scheubeck was Associate Lecturer at Bath Spa University (GB) for the BA and MA in Dance courses and in 2023 at the University of Music in Trossingen for the MA and BA Movement and Dance/ Eurythmics.
Stephanie Scheubeck received her Master of Arts in Dance (Bath Spa University/ GB, 2017) with distinction and studied New Dance, Improvisation & Performance (TIP Freiburg, 2007-2005), Physical Theater Dance/ Butoh Dance (KiM Tanzfabrik Berlin, 2010) and Musical Theater (Paul Hindemith music school, Berlin, 2001-2002). She is a Somatic Practitioner (Somatic Academy Berlin, 2016).