Artburst Miami shared that Dance NOW! Miami presents “Bridges NOT Walls” and other works on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 7:00pm, at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center (3385 NE 188th Street, Aventura, Miami, Florida).
WHAT: Dance NOW! Program II: “Bridges NOT Walls” and other works
WHEN: 7 p.m., Sunday, March 15
WHERE: Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, 3385 NE 188th St., Aventura
COST: $25.96, $37.76, $49.56 (includes fees before taxes); $20, students with a valid ID at box office.
INFORMATION: (305) 975-8489 and at dancenowmiami.org/events/bnw
Description: The second program of Dance NOW! Miami’s 2025–2026 season brings together two works—one a world premiere and another first performed in 2017—connected by a common thread of politically charged history.
The world premiere, “1933,” choreographed by Hannah Baumgarten, and the other, “Bridges NOT Walls,” created by Baumgarten and Diego Salterini, co-founders and co-directors of Dance NOW! Miami, are part of the company’s Program II at the Aventura Arts and Cultural Center on Sunday, March 15.
[. . .] Salterini says that when the pair began to conceive “Bridges NOT Walls” in 2015, it was in response to the changing social climate around them.
“Conversations about racism, immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, and women’s rights were intensifying, and public discourse was becoming increasingly defined by division: the looming metaphor of the ‘wall’ as a reality of political debate.”
By the time it premiered in the company’s 2016–2017 season, Salterini says, the divisions had become even deeper.
“Entrenched in ways we could hardly have imagined, ‘Bridges NOT Walls’ emerged as a reflection of that moment and as a call for empathy, dialogue, and connection.”
As the work gained momentum, the company began to collaborate with the Ballet of Mexico City and the Classical Ballet of Quintana Roo, “sharing the stage, adding sections, and performing with both companies in both Mexico and the United States,” says Baumgarten. [. . .]
Salterini adds that a decade later, the message is as urgent as ever.
“A reminder that art can and should continue to be a bridge when the world insists on building walls.” While the leaders of Dance NOW! Miami are not bound to promoting a specific political cause, they agree that what is happening around the world influences their work.
“It is not our explicit mission to promote a political or social agenda, but as artists—and simply as human beings living in profoundly complex times—it is impossible to separate our creative voices from the world we inhabit. We strive to create dances that transcend immediate headlines, works that can resonate across generations and cultures through universal themes,” says Salterini.
For Baumgarten, she equates art to a mirror.
“It reflects, questions, and invites awareness. In that sense, our work is not political, but human, because its purpose is connection, compassion, and understanding—timeless values that endure beyond the politics of any given moment.” [. . .]
For more information, see https://www.artburstmiami.com/dance-articles/dance-now-miami-bridges-not-walls-1933
[Photo #1 (top) by Simon Soong; photo #2 Jenny Abreu: from left, Justin Dinkins, Cristiane Silva, Jason Williams, and Megan Holsinger in “Forest Dreams.” Courtesy of Dance NOW! Miami.]
Artburst Miami shared that Dance NOW! Miami presents “Bridges NOT Walls” and other works on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 7:00pm, at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center (3385 NE 188th Street, Aventura, Miami, Florida). WHAT: Dance NOW! Program II: “Bridges NOT Walls” and other works WHEN: 7 p.m., Sunday, March 15 WHERE: Aventura Arts & Cultural Center,
