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Heidi Latsky Dance
Disrupting Space | Dismantling Normal | Redefining Beauty
At the end of the day, dance is about the body, and New York-based Heidi Latsky Dance reminds dance goers that bodies come in all shapes, sizes and with varied abilities. Some dance companies have fixed expectations or look for dancers....but Latsky explores, accentuates and celebrates physical differences, allowing her ensemble of mixed-ability dancers to fill the stage with spirited individualism.
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- Sarah Osterman Myers, Chicago Stage Standard
Executive Director
Artistic Director
Communications Manager
HLD Projects
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After completing the sculpture court,...A sense of calm permeated every fiber of my being and felt I had shared a precious moment in time with both participants and viewers.
About Heidi Latsky Dance
Heidi Latsky Dance (HLD) is New York’s largest physically-integrated dance company on a mission to disrupt space, dismantle normal, and redefine what beauty & virtuosity look like through innovative performance and discourse. Founded in 2001, the company's work and has been considered “a milestone in contemporary dance” by Dance Magazine and has been supported by partners such as the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, Mark Morris Dance Group, Mount Sinai Hospital, Positive Exposure, and Nuvu Studio.
Guided by influential disability activists such as Simi Linton and Lawrence Carter-Long, HLD premiered GIMP in 2008. Although confrontational, GIMP garnered praise for its unapologetic nature and stimulating investigation of inclusion. GIMP toured through 2012 and was the subject of an EMMY-nominated news feature about the work.
HLD’s current portfolio, ON DISPLAY, was commissioned by the Whitney Museum, American Dance Festival, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and Peak Performances and has been performed at venues like National Portrait Gallery, Central Park, Cooper Hewitt, and the Kennedy Center. The success of the commission lead to an expansion of the social justice initiative called ON DISPLAY GLOBAL that brings thought-provoking, community sculpture courts to over 30 countries worldwide. The initiative is supported by NYC Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, NYU Tisch, and Disability Unite.
Currently, HLD is collaborating with Evolving Technologies Corporation and Google’s Creative Lab to build on HLD's continued commitment to creating artistic projects that prioritize disability from inception, not as an afterthought. As an extension of their captivating performances, HLD teaches a workshop to young audiences in the New York Metro area called “Defining Ourselves”; encouraging empathy and self-reflection through creative practices.
About Heidi Latsky
Heidi Latsky, a committed leader in the physically integrated dance field, began Heidi Latsky Dance (HLD) in 2001. The company has toured internationally and been presented at institutions like Peak Performances, Kennedy Center, American Dance Festival, Joyce Theater, Whitney Museum, Cooper Hewitt, National Portrait Gallery, ICA Boston, and annually at Lincoln Center since 2015. HLD has received support from funders like NEA, NYSCA, Ford Foundation, Creative Capital and the MAP Foundation.
Latsky has presented at TEDxWOMEN, a feature on her work GIMP (2008) was nominated for an Emmy, and she has spoken at Harvard University, Maxine Green Institute, Chicago Humanities Festival and the Seventh International Conference on Movement and Computing. As HLD is dedicated to disrupting space, dismantling normal and redefining beauty in a broad way, the company has a portfolio of educational toolkits. She was the Head of the Movement Department at the School for Film and Television for7 years, on faculty at STEPS and American Dance Festival and has served as an adjudicator of dance numerous times.
In 2020, Latsky was commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to create a film titled SOLO FLIGHT for the 30thanniversary of the ADA. Currently, Latsky is creating a series of ten films/movement portraits as well as collaborating with digital artists creating interactive experiences. ON DISPLAY (since 2015)-her live sculpture court series- is now a global phenomenon, performed annually on December 3rd to honor the UN’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities with, to date, over 100 sites and 30 countries including Indonesia, Korea, Israel, China and Peru. Because of the pandemic, ON DISPLAY GLOBAL 2020 was a 24-hour Zoom event. This year, she was also commissioned by Peak Performances at Montclair State University to film ON DISPLAY for broadcast.