Screendance Miami Introduces Exciting New Element in Its 11th Year

Miami's long-running, dance-focused film festival, ScreenDance Miami, is still innovating more than a decade into its existence. As in previous years, the festival, directed by local choreographer Pioneer Winter, continues to screen international films showcasing the art of movement through moving images. However, ScreenDance is introducing a new element in its 11th year.

"I'm excited about how the festival has grown," says Winter, also the artistic director of the Pioneer Winter Collective dance company. "This is the first year where some of our feature films...came from an open call."

The 2025 edition kicked off last Friday with the "Films You Gotta See Big!" program, projecting films such as Cara Hagan's short Cut Me Summa Dat Noise on the 7,000-square-foot projection wall at the New World Center's Soundscape Park. "Cara's film is tap," says Winter. "We don't see a lot of tap. There's such a beautiful quality of sound that she captured."

Another selection at the launch event — Hadar Ahuvia, Tatyana Tenenbaum, and Bridget Greene's feature film Everything You Have Is Yours — touched on the relationship between Palestinian and Israeli dance artists.

Wednesday night's showcase at the Miami Beach Bandshell saw the world premiere of the 14-minute U.K. film Beyond the Plaques, as well as Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music, a documentary that captures the artist's lively 24-hour musical performance in New York City in 2016.

Miami Light Project, the cultural organization that facilitates the festival, also views it as an opportunity to develop the talents of the next generation. ScreenDance hosts several panel discussions and workshops throughout the week. Among this year's options is a workshop where dancers are invited to learn Merce Cunningham's Beach Birds (1991), a contemplative landscape dance of natural movements that make dancers appear as if they're soaring. Patricia Lent, who taught the dance for a 2023 performance on Rockaway Beach, will lead the session.

"This is just one more instance of us showing some really beautiful work," says Winter. "It's so visual and geometric, and it's modern dance, but you can also see the form of ballet in it so clearly."

Selections from the festival's open call will close out the festival at Pérez Art Museum Miami. Guests will have a chance to speak to filmmakers about the inspiration behind the short films, which range in length from two to 25 minutes.

"Some people call dance a language," says Winter. "Dance is definitely a way of communicating. But also, I feel like dance is also a philosophy and a way of being in the world and in relationship to other beings and spaces and things. There will definitely be abstract films, but there's also going to be a lot of storytelling. I think there's something for everyone."

ScreenDance Miami 2025. Friday, January 17 through Saturday, January 25 at various venues. Free with RSVP via miamilightproject.com.