Pioneer Winter Collective to Present IN THE BELLY OF THE BIRD/GODMOTHER

Pioneer Winter Collective will present In the Belly of the Bird/Godmother, a free performance presented October 9 at the Miami Beach Regional Library, performed by a multigenerational ensemble of performers, in partnership with City of Miami Beach OnStage!

Pioneer Winter calls In the Belly of the Bird/Godmother a "somapoem" - a poetic dance-theater performance about memory, grief, and transformation, honoring mothers and the stories they carry across generations. The work follows a search for the protagonist's late mother's voice, which may still live on in an African Grey parrot given away after her death. Choreographer Pioneer Winter - who is 37, the same age his own mother died - begins to reckon with what is carried, what is inherited, and what we long to recover.

Performed by a multigenerational ensemble of performers, In the Belly of the Bird/Godmother blends original choreography by Winter with excerpts of modern dance mother Isadora Duncan's historic works, layered with spoken word, sound collage, and community-sourced storytelling through a partnership with O, Miami. The work asks: what remains when the body is gone? What happens when memory is trapped in the wrong vessel? And how do we release what we were never meant to hold?

Event Details

In the Belly of the Bird/Godmother

By Pioneer Winter Collective

Thursday, October 9, 6:30-8 p.m.

Miami Beach Regional Library

227 22nd Street Miami Beach, FL 33139

Admission is FREE, RSVP required.

In the performance, Pioneer Winter is joined by dance artists Gaile Holland, Lisa Nalven, and Andréa Labbée, with original compositions and live performance by sound artists Juraj Kojš and Laurah Merisier.

Pioneer Winter (b. 1987; he/they) is a choreographer, dancer, and artistic director based in Miami. Winter creates intergenerational, queer, and physically integrated dance-theater rooted in community, care, and social change. Their work challenges dominant notions of beauty and belonging, while expanding what dance is and who it's for.

Winter is the founder of Pioneer Winter Collective (PWC), a platform that supports artists living at the intersection of dance, identity, and public health. Through PWC's performances, workshops, and artist development programs, he creates space for queer, elder, disabled, and system-impacted artists to be seen as essential culture-bearers. Pioneer's choreographic work blends movement, text, and film, with 2025 projects including Apollo and In the Belly of the Bird/Godmother.

Winter holds an MFA in Choreography and an MPH in Epidemiology. He was named in Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" and received awards from Creative Capital, NEFA, National Performance Network, MAP Fund, and the Mellon Foundation. Pioneer has directed and curated the ScreenDance Miami Festival since 2017, and mentors artists across the country.

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