Miami Light Project launched Here & Now in 1999, as the first program of its kind in South Florida dedicated to commissioning and presenting Miami-based performance and multi-media artists. Since its inception, we have commissioned work from more than 100 artists, laying the foundation for Miami’s reputation as a cultural center of international importance.
Here & Now commissioned artists are identified through an open request for proposals and selected through an adjudication process completed by a panel consisting of MLP programming team members, working artists, colleagues, and Here & Now Alumni.
Clinton Harris
Clint T. Harris is from Miami, FL where he currently dances with Peter London Global Dance Company. Harris has also performed in works choreographed by Mammie Green, Mike Tyus, Adele Myers, Jamar Roberts, and Justin Rapaport on stages throughout South Florida including the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Miami Beach Bandshell, African American Cultural Arts Center, Super Blue, Perez Art Museum, and internationally in Trinidad and Martinique. In 2020, Harris was selected for “Grass Stains,” a site-specific dance project directed by Pioneer Winter Collective. In 2015, he was featured in the Lifetime TV Network docuseries “Step! Up,” which captured the lives of inner-city youth and their unwavering passion for dance. Harris has taught dance at BBHarts Performing Arts, XpressitDance Center, Dance Center of Florida, and the Diamond Mind Leadership Academy.
Diego Melgar
Diego Melgar is an idiosyncratic musician reflecting the tropical melting pot he calls home. After studying jazz guitar at the Frost School of Music, Melgar has led a career as an independent composer and guitarist. Melgar’s unique guitar style has led him to perform with a wide-range of artists, from pop-singer Lauren Jauregui to conductor/composer Michael Tilson Thomas. Currently, Melgar’s focus is on his original music, with which he has opened for Flying Lotus, Khruangbin, Los Espiritus, and Flo Rida. Melgar is also a frequent composer for dance collectives in Miami such as Syncopate and the Pioneer Winter Collective.
Nicole Pedraza & Diago León Lang
Nicole Pedraza and Diago León Lang are a Miami-based contemporary dance and visual art duo exploring their unified experience growing up in complex immigrant families. Nicole’s choreography often draws from Diago’s visual art exploring intricate curves and themes of memory, while Diago’s artwork captures the fluidity of movement and relationships between dancers. Nicole is an alum of Jacob’s Pillow and currently dances for Syncopate Collective. She is an Artist-in-Residence at the Deering Estate and was a Locust Projects Wavemaker grantee. A pioneer in digital storytelling, Diago was an early adopter of social media and has garnered a large international following under the handle @Oh_Dingi. He was recently featured in Islandia Journal, painted a 35’ mural for Pridelines, and often works with musicians to enhance their performances.
Nina Ahmadi
NINA OSORIA AHMADI is a transdisciplinary artist and educator from Miami, Florida, of AfroCuban and Iranian descent. Their practice spans photography, performance, video, drawing, and pedagogy. Their early work investigates layered identity, particularly cultural inheritance and gender fluidity. Their practice is informed by community organizing, Indigenous and Afro-diasporic spirituality and performance practices, and queer and trans nightlife. Their current practice involves research on performance and protest, and the power of dance as a tool for liberation and community organizing. Ahmadi holds a degree in Art and Education from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study and currently teaches visual art to elementary students in Miami.
