Company History

Heidi Latsky Dance (HLD) is a New York-based modern dance company dedicated to creating provocative, highly technical and physically adventurous dance under the artistic direction of Heidi Latsky, a longtime principal member of Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Hailed by Jennifer Dunning of the New York Times as "a choreographer and dancer of uncommon intelligence and fluidity," Latsky has been a moving force in the dance world for over 25 years, creating works for the stage, theater and film. The company's encouragement of community involvement has created a vibrant audience of all ages who are discovering the magnetism of modern dance.

Heidi Latsky Dance premiered in 2001 with a Joyce Theater Residency and a sold-out run of Just Watch!, presented by Danspace Project (NY). In 2002, HLD received a commission from the 92nd St. Y Harkness Dance Center (NY) to create Bound, performed at the Duke on 42nd Street. Since then, the company has enjoyed performances at Bryn Mawr College (PA), Central Park SummerStage (NY), Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival (MA), Symphony Space (NY), Sushi Arts (San Diego), Roger Williams University (RI), Long Island University (NY), Drew University (NJ), SUNY Purchase (NY), and Joe's Pub (NY).

The 2004-05 season included the premiere of CLUB RIOT, produced by and performed at La Mama ETC, The Club (NY); and a three-week run of Mary Fulham's BALLETTO STILETTO at La Mama ETC, The Annex, choreographed by Latsky and featuring the company. The evening-length work, DISJOINTED, premiered to critical acclaim at Danspace Project in May 2006. This past fall, the company received a Baryshnikov Arts Center residency for Latsky's newest work, FROM THE LIMB.

In 2006, the company premiered the evening length work, DISJOINTED, to critical acclaim at Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church. During fall 2006, Latsky began an intensive period of creation developing two new solo works, FIVE OPEN MOUTHS and WOMAN AT AN EXHIBITION. Heidi Latsky created FIVE OPEN MOUTHS for Lisa Bufano, a Boston-based interdisciplinary artist and 2006-07 Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art Recipient.. The two solos had their official premiere at Judson Memorial Church in January 2007.

Influenced by Latsky's psychological training and essential to her exploration of the human condition through movement, is the company's collaboration with various social service and humanitarian organizations.Heidi Latsky Dance's vast history of partnerships include work with CLAL (The Center For Learning And Leadership), SHARE (Self-help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer), DRA (Dancers Responding to AIDS), and the Friends of Island Academy (serving incarcerated youth), which have lead to groundbreaking outreach programs that use the transforming power of movement to help people heal and find their voice.

Her evening-length GIMP, featuring disabled and non-disabled performers, premiered at North Fourth/VSA Arts of New Mexico in Albuquerque fall 2008. Since then, GIMP has been presented at the Dublin Dance Festival, The Flynn Theater (VT), Abrons Arts Center (NYC), Boston's ICA, Kennedy Center. Excerpts have been performed at venues that include The Society for Arts in Healthcare; Boston University, MA; Dance Theater Workshop, The Society for Disability Studies Conference, The New York Reelabilities Film Festival, NYC; The Biograph/Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago; and Zagreb, Croatia. GIMP's aerial duet was featured at the nationally broadcast CAP Awards in Amsterdam.

The GIMP Project is comprised of performances and full residency and educational outreach activities. Hosts for residency and outreach activities have included Beloit College, Flynn Theater, Bancroft Middle and High Schools, Holy Cross University, Rutgers University, Barnard College and Sarah Lawrence College.

Latsky was the 2010 Artist-in-Residence at the Jewish Community Center in NYC, funded by the Stanley H. and Rita J. Kaplan Fund of UJA-Federation. She exposed the Center to disability through the creation of a new work titled IF with a cast of 20 that premiered at the JCC in December of 2010. HLD spearheaded ANOTHER CHANCE TO DANCE, a benefit performance of GIMP at the JCC for Handicap International providing prosthetics for Haitian amputees. In honor of the 20^th anniversary of the ADA, Latsky was invited to be on a panel and show excerpts of GIMP at the New York Public Library on July 7, 2010. Other partnerships include The Amputee Coalition of America, Achilles International and IndependenceFirst.

GIMP is a project of Creative Capital and is the subject of two documentaries (one by Richard Move), a national NPR feature and an Associated Press multimedia piece. John Bathke's Channel 12 News profile on GIMP has been nominated for an Emmy Award. Additional venues included: Scripps College; the Lied Center, NB; Roger Williams University, RI; The JCC, NYC; Dada Fest UK Tour; Chicago Humanities Festival; and Alverno Presents, Milwaukee.

GIMP was last performed at Lincoln Center's Out of Doors August 2012. You can find a review of the performance - with aerialists Jennifer Bricker and Max Torandell - here. Over the current 2013 New York season, HLD has performed SOMEWHERE and SOLO COUNTERSOLO as part of Reelabilities: NY Disabilities Festival and SOLO COUNTERSOLO & SOMEWHERE at the Fashion Institute of Technology. The company is producing SOMEWHERE & SOLO COUNTERSOLO the week of June 24th at the Baruch Performing Arts Center near Madison Square.

Heidi Latsky Dance was featured in the film Dance on Camera, produced by Douglas Roserberg in 2011.