Current Projects
Learn more about the projects that were selected this year and the exciting line-up of speakers, films, symposia, courses, conferences, panels and exhibitions.
Versa-Style Street Dance: Rooted Rhythms
Missy Pfohl Smith
September 17-19, 2026
In this URochester residency, Versa-Style Street Dance Company brings the energy, creativity, and culture of Hip Hop and Street Dance to campus through performances, workshops, and interactive conversations. Celebrating styles such as Waacking, House, Popping, and Afro-Latin dance forms, Versa-Style seeks to empower underserved and marginalized groups worldwide by creating groundbreaking concert dance works that represent messages of diversity, inclusion, and equity both on stage and within our communities. This residency highlights movement as a powerful form of storytelling, self-expression, and community connection as students are invited to experience dance not only as performance, but as a space for creativity, identity, and social dialogue.
Performances | Sept 18-19
Workshop #1 | Sept 17
Workshop #2 | Sept 18
Photo Credit: George Simian
Invisible No More Project
Anne Wilcox
September 19, 2026
Invisible No More (INM) is a multi-disciplinary performance of dance, music, poetry, history, a movement choir, and communal reflection. Under the direction of University of Rochester’s Program of Dance and Movement faculty member, Anne Harris Wilcox, this artful re-dedication tribute is made in deference to the Mount Hope Cemetery site where hundreds of people from the 19th century “insane asylum,” penitentiary, and almshouse were re-buried after they were discovered during an excavation of Highland Park in 1984. INM honors these lost people and affirms the need for continued support of mental health in our community. Collaborators include choreographer Nanako Horikawa Mandrino; composer/musicians Sean Mulligan and Greg Woodsbie; poet Adam Wilcox, Eastman School of Music’s FFF Quintet; singer Zwena; historians, Robert, Riley, Dr. Ryan Thibodeau, and Dr. Laurence Gutmacher; dancers Rose Beauchamp, Michelle Iklé, Kaidence Pacheco, Doreen Prempeh, Elyssia Primus and Anne Wilcox; and closing words by Dr. Anthony Villani of Rochester Psychiatric Center. The event takes place in Mount Hope Cemetery, 1133 Mt. Hope Avenue at 2pm. FREE
Invisible No More is the first in a series of events focusing on mental health and well-being taking place in the Program of Dance and Movement in 2026-27.
Global Citizenship from the Rust Belt: Education, Labor, and South Asia
Llerena Searle
September 25-26, 2026
Interdisciplinary two-day conference to bring faculty from New York State together with scholars from Ohio and Pennsylvania to share ongoing research and strategies for the study of the cultures, languages, and history of South Asia with a focus on connections with the Rust Belt.
Todd Talks
Nigel Maister
October 5, 2026; November 2, 2026; November 30, 2026; February 8, 2027; March 1, 2027; April 5, 2027
Join us for a series of online discussions with prominent and interesting theatre and performing artists of our time. Todd Talks are: Moderated by UR International Theatre Program faculty and guest interlocutors, open to all and free of charge, by registration only. For more information about each individual talk and speaker, and to register, visit the Todd Talks webpage.