In our era of social media, dance video snippets bombard us every day. Dance on a screen reaches a much wider audience than in the past, yet only occasionally does a click-through option lead to viewing a fully formed dance piece.
Screendance, a genre of its own, combines dance and choreography with filmmaking and editing techniques, resulting in fully formed compositions made specifically to be viewed on the screen. Most recent screendances won’t be found on YouTube or Tik Tok. These original dance films are generally reserved for live festival screenings, emerging into the world on a similar path to the release of a feature film.
Dawn Schultz developed a passion for screendance during her graduate studies at Jacksonville University, and following graduation in 2020, she founded New Jersey’s successful mignolo international screendance festival. Last summer, Schultz came to Chicago to visit her grad school friend and fellow screendance artist, Alia Montijo, the Director of Dance Avondale. Planting a seed, “I came out to visit and told Alia I’d love to do [a screendance festival] with you,” says Schultz. “I think it really aligns with the Dance Avondale mission to create opportunities for its community through access, equity and excellence.” Montijo agreed to co-produce and from that conversation, the inaugural Montrose International Screendance Festival (MISF) sprouted.
Free to the public, on the big screen at the north side’s new state-of-the-art Movement on Montrose space on July 10th, the first MISF shares a collection of 27 original works of dance for the camera, highlighting local, national, international and student screendance makers. “We knew we wanted to offer a festival,” Montijo says, “but what really cemented it was Dance Avondale’s residency at its new space. There are dance studios here, galleries and multi-use spaces.” As an anchor tenant in the new building, Montijo says “the festival has access to a dedicated screening room with a massive screen.”
“MISF kicks off with a social mixer for filmmakers, dancers, and community members who wish to come and converse or connect,” says Schultz. “Also, we are planning a brief Q & A with any of the filmmakers in attendance after each screening segment.” Screenings will follow the mixer in five separate blocks. Since all of the events are free, audience members are encouraged to come and go, or to stay for the duration as their schedule allows.
The festival’s call for submissions attracted a collection of artists from around the world. Schultz and Montijo sought recent original works created specifically for film, falling into categories of super short (up to five minutes long), short (5-15 minutes long) and feature-length dance works (longer than 15 minutes), as well as a separate category for student dance films. “Chicago is well-represented,” says Montijo, with five local artists submitting works, along with over 50 more including 18 international applicants.
“Adjudicators are asked to consider four pillars of assessment,” Montijo explains. “Films selected have fulfilled the nuanced criteria in four categories of artistic and choreographic merit, cinematography and direction (including composition and editing), integration of dance and film and creative impact.” Then based on a numerical score, the top-scoring pieces receive screenings. “Our selection panel is highly representative and diverse,” says Montijo. “We have local, national and international members.” The all-star adjudicator panel includes former Joffrey dancer, Angelica Burgos, Chicago-based screenwriter/director, George Ellzey Jr. and actor/publicist Jessica Gillespe.
Once the screenings were determined, the highest overall scoring dance films in each of the length and student categories, receive awards. All of the works screened are eligible for other festival awards such as Best of Fest and Honorable Mention, with some awards including cash prizes.
As of press time, several Chicago artists have made the screening cut and are vying for the Local Favorite award. In Nejla Yatkin’s haunting homage to 1940s-50s filmmaker Maya Deren, entitled “Witches Cradle,” Yatkin honors the silenced voices of women across history through metaphor, striking imagery and a ball of twine. Other Chicago-made films on view are the super short, “Flamboyance” by Jessica Brewster, the abstract, “my own two feet” by Caleigh Stephens, Flamenco infused “Sombras Y Sueños” by Amanda Saucedo and “Inter|Intra,” a study in communication by Sophia Vangelatos.
On the national level, screening highlights include Twin Cities filmmaker Lydia Jones’ “Knew Love,” an exploration of grief, memory and resilience among members of the hip-hop community. Three years in the making, the piece paints a broad portrait of navigating personal loss. Marta Renzi’s “Inter-Library Loan” finds unusual spaces and camera angles among the architecture of a Rhode Island library and features a large cast and plenty of books. “And Then, Now” made by Jody Oberfelder and Nate Reininga is a mediation on connecting the past with the present with an ethereal quality—dancers glide in and among the graves and mausoleums in Brooklyn’s Green Wood Cemetery. And among the international dance films represented, audiences will have the opportunity to see “Yo Quiero Bailar,” a poignant documentary by Puerto Rico-based Ana Sanchez Colberg.
“Film has the power to make connections beyond what is possible in live performance,” says Montijo. “We are so excited to be in a brand new space and provide an opportunity to see international works, local works and works that you wouldn’t see anywhere else.”
Montrose International Screendance Festival
July 10, 2025, 4-10pm (Social Mixer with Filmmakers 4-5pm, Screenings 5-10pm)
Movement on Montrose, 2951 W. Montrose Ave.
For information and a detailed listing of films and screening times, please visit: danceavondale.org/about-5
Link to social mixer: zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/montrose-international-screendance-festival-artist-mixer
Copyright 2026, See Chicago Dance, All Rights Reserved
