Stephan delivers an accomplished career as a scholarship NCAA gymnast, prolific dancer/choreographer, stunt man, actor and model. Cirque du Soleil acquired his acrobatic-dance duo called “body2body” for their Las Vegas show, Zumanity, where Stephan was featured with his partner for three years. Prior to joining Zumanity, he was a principal performer with Anti-Gravity in New York City, integrating dance, acrobatics and aerials for the company’s original shows and corporate productions. While with AntiGravity, Stephan worked in such esteemed venues as: The Metropolitan Opera House, performing acrobatics for numerous operas; Madison Square Garden for the Mr. Olympia Competition; Radio City Music Hall for MTV’s Video Music Awards with P. Diddy; as well as performing nightly at the award ceremonies of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. He is also proud to have been a featured entertainer at special events for George Lucas, Richard Branson, George Soros, and Paul Newman. Stephan also had featured roles performing and choreographing in Anti-Gravity’s full-length productions, Circus Diva and Crash Test Dummies. He has been a featured performer in high profile benefits for Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS and Dancers Responding to AIDS.
Translating his talents from the stage to the screen, audiences have seen him crash and burn in the movie While You Were Sleeping; as Michael J. Fox’s regular stunt double on the sitcom, Spin City; in commercials for Cingular Wireless, and on television’s, Late Show with David Letterman; Late Night with Conan O’Brien; The Daily Show; and USA Up All Night. Courtesy of ZUMANITY, “body2body” has appeared in the television shows: Dennis Miller Live, MTV’s Diaries with Jennifer Alba, El Gordo Y La Flaca, and Despierta America. The act is also featured in the “Adventure” episode of Cirque du Soleil’s television series, “Solstrom.”
As an action model, Stephan has shot national and international print campaigns for Samsung, Capezio, Amway, Footlocker and Sports Illustrated, with additional magazine images for ZUMANITY, in Zink, and Playboy. He has appeared in several art books including Artistic Gymnastics by Fred Turoff; Airborne by Lois Greenfield (www.loisgreenfield.com); and 20 Years Under The Sun by Cirque du Soleil. One of Stephan’s favorite artistic endeavors is an on-going collaboration with the world-renowned sculptor Richard MacDonald.
In 2005 Stephan was honored with an exclusive profile in Dancer Magazine as a “dancer/choreographer to watch.”
Off stage, Stephan is a master choreographer and teacher who has been on staff at The Ailey School and Sutton Gymnastics, NYC. He continues to teach workshops nationally and abroad. His distinct style of acrobatic partnering and aerial dance has been showcased in New York at the historical Henry Street De Jur Playhouse, Symphony Space, the New Victory Theater; the “Main Event” of DANCENOW/NYC and The Fire Island Dance Festival.
Stephan received a BFA in painting from Tyler School of Art, while on gymnastics scholarship at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. A New Yorker at heart, he currently resides in Las Vegas.
2008
