On Display

The New York Times has described Heidi Latsky as a “choreographer and dancer of uncommon intelligence and fluidity” and has written that, for her, “there are no unbeautiful bodies and no bodies incapable of dancing. In what some might call disability, she finds possibility.” With her ongoing series On Display, she turns a cast of diverse bodies into a sculptural installation, appropriating the notion of the body as spectacle and addressing society’s tendency to objectify, judge, and stigmatize people who are different from ourselves. On the stage of the Kasser, in collaboration with lighting designer Robert Wierzel, New York Live Arts associate artistic director Janet Wong, and a cast of 14 performers, she has created an arresting new-filmed version of the work. We have always been taught not to stare; not to look at someone deeply because it might offend them; that if someone “different” catches our eye we have objectified them. This is the life of the viewer. Alternatively, should we possess a birthmark, a glorious height, or unknown disability we risk being ostracized. This is the life of the viewed. For both the viewer and viewed, there are harsh limitations–the viewer does not have time to see beyond appearances, and the viewed risks only being seen as other. Can a dynamic, safe space for both to truly look and experience each other exist?