Missy Pfohl Smith, Ivan Sygoda, 2026-2027

Heidi Latsky Dance – “Who Am I Now?” and “Tracking Parallel”

Year: 2026-2027
DanceForce Member: Missy Pfohl Smith
Partnering DanceForce Member: Ivan Sygoda
Artist: Heidi Latsky
Community Partners: Center for Disability Rights; University of Rochester Program of Dance & Movement; URMC Dept. of Health Humanities and Bioethics; URMC Dept. of Neurology & Palliative Medicine
Audience: 365
County: Monroe

Heidi Latsky Dance in performance.

Heidi Latsky Dance will hold a residency in Rochester, NY, including a public company performance of TRACKING PARALLEL at University of Rochester’s Sloan Performing Arts Center, followed by a post-performance discussion. Heidi Latsky will also present her film “Living in the Grey” alongside her talk “Who Am I Now?” as part of University of Rochester Medical Center’s Grand Rounds Speaker Series. She will also teach a workshop related to her work that is open to the public.

Heidi’s goal since becoming an inclusive company has been to make art of a high standard that advances the beauty and virtuosity of the unexpected and promotes understanding and compassion for those unlike ourselves. TRACKING PARALLEL began gestating when she was in the hospital undergoing brain surgery and felt a very deep connection with her mother who had had the same benign brain tumors from the age of 33 until she died at 68. She felt they were tracking parallel on many levels. But the work is not about that as much as it is about acute and ongoing upheaval and how we deal with those circumstances alone and with others.

Living in the Grey is a moving 35-minute documentary, conceived with cinematographer Sebastian Lasaosa Rogers, that pairs raw, intimate interviews with striking movementโ€”shining a light on the often misunderstood and stigmatized world of non-apparent neurological disabilities. By sharing their dancing and stories, the dancers assert: โ€œWhile we do talk about our diagnoses, we are NOT our diagnoses. We are human and have full and vibrant lives.โ€ The film is a tribute to people living in the grey and thriving there. As part of her visit, she will engage with general audiences, the disability community, the medical community, college students and artists in the greater Rochester region.