The ART Beat of Forsyth Woman – A Monthly Column that Keeps its Finger on the Pulse of Forsyth’s Artists and their Inspiring Stories; Dr. Nancy Scherich
This month’s featured artist, Dr. Nancy Scherich, is a mathematician and dancer who blends logic with artistry, transforming complex math concepts into movement through captivating performances and accessible Math-Dance videos. Uniquely collaborating both sides of her brain, she brings mathematics to life with creativity, motion and wonder!
Dr. Nancy Scherich | Math-Dancer
How would you describe your unique work?
I am a mathematician who uses dance to explain higher math concepts in a fun and approachable way. I have given performative lectures where I explain math concepts while performing. I have also choreographed live math inspired dance performances, but my preferred medium is to make publicly accessible Math-Dance videos.
What was your journey to developing your dance skills like?
Before graduate school, my math and dance training had been completely disjoint ventures. I started taking ballet and jazz classes when I was 12 years old and, over the years, I have collected many new styles of dance including swing dancing, modern, aerial silks and aerial pole. While working on my PhD in mathematics, I finally combined my math and dance backgrounds in an aerial silks video that won Science Magazine’s 2017 Dance Your PhD Competition, and thus, my Math-Dance journey began.
How have you grown, personally, as an artist?
Creating new Math-Dance projects has been an excuse for me to learn new dance styles. I had an idea one day that I could explain a foundation theorem in my area of research (Alexander’s Theorem) as an acrobatic pole dance, but there was just one problem, I didn’t know how to pole dance! So, I spent nine months intensely training pole dancing at Collective Movement Studio to learn all the skills I needed to dance Alexander’s Theorem. Next up, I need to learn tap dancing!
What is your secret for carving out time to truly be creative?
I intentionally make spaces in my home where I can leave projects out (I also sew and crochet a lot). I find that I can squeeze small moments in the day to work on my art when I don’t have to overcome the momentum of setting up and then cleaning up.
Do you have a favorite story behind one of your projects, and why?
For one of my videos, I commissioned a piece of music from artist James Whetzel. I explained to James that the piece needed to have three separate sections of music; one section that sounded like geometry, one that sounded like topology and a third that sounded like algebra. This spawned an incredible conversation…what does geometry sound like?
What are you working on that excites you right now?
I am a professor of mathematics at Elon University, and I am mentoring a student who is a math and dance double major. For her senior thesis, she is choreographing a 45-minute Math-Dance live performance at Elon during the weekend of February 20-22, 2026. I am so excited to guide her through the creation of her performance and invite you to come see the show!
What is one piece of advice you’d like to share with fellow artists, especially those at the start of their careers?
Collaborate with scientists! Scientists, especially academics, are always looking for ways to illustrate their research, and many of them don’t have the artistic training that you do. Don’t be afraid to send an email to a STEM professor that you don’t know and say you are looking to collaborate on a piece of art inspired by their research.
If you are interested in learning more about this month’s artist, you can find her work online at nancyscherich.com as well as follow her on YouTube @nancyscherich7940.
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