"The most important things to me were heart, individual dance styles, great personal expression, joy of spirit, and the love of dance.
Earlier in her career she had danced in the high-profile 1980 film Xanadu, starring the singer Olivia Newton-John. After Xanadu Garrison was a frequent collaborator with Choreographer and later Director Kenny Ortega.
Miranda Garrison assisted Choreographer Kenny Ortega in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, starring Patrick Swayze; she acted in the film, playing the part of Vivian Pressman. For the 1988 film Salsa, she acted the part of Luna, the owner of a Los Angeles salsa club. In this film, she had an opportunity to dance numbers from her own work as the Choreographer. In the 1990 film The Forbidden Dance about the Lambada from Brazil, she again appeared as an actress-dancer, performing in the role of Mickey. In 1996, she assisted Choreographer Vincent Paterson in the film Evita, with singer Madonna, based on the 1968 musical.
In 1997 Garrison choreographed Selena, the biographical film about Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, the tragic Tejano singing star. She was also the Choreographer for the 2004 film Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, set in late-1950s Cuba, and for The Skeleton Key, released in 2005. An on-line 'Filmography' for Miranda Garrison lists 48 entries for film (34) and tv (14), twelve as an actor and/or a Dancer 1979-2005, and thirty-six for choreographic work 1987-2009.
In 2001, she directed the Golden Eagle awards ceremony. In 2007 and 2008, Garrison was a judge in the British reality TV competition, Dirty Dancing: The Time of Your Life.
