ARTs + Change 2025: Missy Pfohl Smith & Frayda Lieber

ARTs + Change Virtual Conference, January 23-26, 2025
Title: Hats We Wear - Dance with Women in Transitional Housing
Presenters: Missy Pfohl Smith & Frayda Lieber
Date: January 24, 2025
About the Conference:
ARTs + Change is a virtual conference hosted by the University of Rochester’s Institute for the Performing Arts, in partnership with the University of Rochester Office of Equity and Inclusion, the Paul J. Burgett Intercultural Center, 540WMain, Inc., Create a Space Now, the Eastman Institute for Music Leadership, and the Rochester Fringe Festival. This conference provided opportunities for artists of all disciplines, educators, community members, and community organizations to come together for four days of inspiring presentations, dazzling performances, and thought-provoking discussions on the intersection of arts, community, and changemaking.
About the Presenters:
Missy Pfohl Smith is a choreographer, performer, and collaborative artist who directs the Program of Dance and Movement and the Institute for the Performing Arts at University of Rochester and is artistic director for the collaborative company, BIODANCE, based in Rochester, NY. She enjoys creating site-specific work such as three acclaimed full-evening length shows Anomaly, Labyrinth, and The Fragile Corridor crafted for a 4-story planetarium in collaboration with media artist W. Michelle Harris, dancers, composers, and musicians. Her choreography, performance, and teaching have spanned across the US and internationally, most recently in Greece, Finland, Scotland, and Germany. Before returning to Rochester in 2004, Missy was based in NYC for 12 years and performed and taught internationally with Randy James Dance Works and Paul Mosley, as well as apprenticing for the Erick Hawkins Dance Company. As an educator, Smith specializes in contemporary modern dance, community-engaged work, yoga, composition, and performance studies and has earned her certification in Bill Evans Somatically-based Pedagogy. Missy recently received the Lillian Fairchild Award for her artistic contributions to the Rochester community.
Frayda Lieber is a Senior at the University of Rochester, graduating with a BA in Psychology with minors in Dance and History. She is a Choreographer for the Program of Dance and Movement shows in both the fall and spring and hopes to continue dancing after her graduation. Frayda has previously taught movement classes to the women at the Jennifer House as a part of the Dance and Interdependent Community Class in the Program of Dance and Movement at the University of Rochester.