Our Mission
The Lights Dance Festival aspires to celebrate dance storytelling in its diversity and endless possibilities through the cinematic medium and live performance. With a vision of making dance more accessible to all, we strive to provide excellent programming of international and local screendance and live dance each year.
As a not-for-profit which values and celebrates independent art and interdisciplinary collaborations, Lights Dance is committed to building sustainable relationships and infrastructures through which we can support artists of all backgrounds. ​ Lights Dance wants to make dance more accessible to all.
Our vision is to create a safe space for those who want to learn and encounter dance in a fresh way whilst providing a platform on which underrepresented artists can collaborate and showcase their work. With the belief that dance is a connecting force, capable of forging new relationships and hope, we strive for ways to evolve and increase our community engagement. ​ We are a Seattle-based not-for-profit community initiative looking to build connections and make space for vibrant dance cultures.
If you would like to work with us, please drop us an email.
Our History
Lights Dance Festival began with its inaugural event held at the Drake Hotel in Toronto on June 18th, 2017. A collaboration with Momentum Dance Toronto, we opened to a full house and offered a hybrid program that interweaved cinematic and live-dance components. ​ After three vibrant years in Toronto, Lights Dance relocated to Seattle in September 2020. The Northwest Film Forum (NWFF) has been its main collaborator since 2021.
Previous Festivals
Our Staff
Sarah Choi
Executive Director
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Sarah Choi is an independent Korean-Canadian filmmaker born in Seoul, currently based in Seattle. Growing up in various cities in Korea, America, and Canada, Sarah developed a nomadic sense of identity and a passion for diversity, art, and justice. After graduating from university with a degree in Biology, she made a leap of faith by moving to New York City to study documentary filmmaking. Sarah won the Best Director Award at the Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival in 2012 and Best Documentary Film at the 2020 Davis Feminist Film Festival. She recently produced Shanawdithit VR in collaboration with Tapestry Opera and directed Bird, Man, Water (2021).
Neve Lin
Festival Coordinator
Neve is a Cinema and Media Studies student at the University of Washington, who dabbles a bit in visual content creation and performative arts. She strongly believes in the power of community and is an active member of the local film and dance scene. Additionally, she enjoys advocating for the intersectionality between arts and sciences, which she plans on continuously exploring postgraduate.
Rose Stafferia
Marketing and Outreach Intern
Rose is a filmmaker in UW’s cinema and media studies program. As a marketing officer at LUX, UW’s film production club, she has been able to make several films with some incredible people. She’s loved dance since she could walk, and is honored to be a part of something that melds those two passions so beautifully.
Mac Langdon
Development Intern
A student at the University of Washington studying film, Mac aspires to work in sound design after completing his graduate degree. His love of cinema lead him to this festival where he was introduced to the art of dance film. The films seen through this festival has lead to a newfound appreciation for the use of movement and sound in films.
Christian Kaylan Alviz
Data Architecture Intern
Christian is studying Informatics and Geography at the University of Washington. He loves watching movies in his free time, and is passionate about exploring how technology and data can be used to support creative fields such as film and media. He loves seeing the ways that films reflect society, using their form to tell stories that people can connect with.
2025 Festival Sponsors
