The Trudi Zipper Dance Institute at the Colburn School in Los Angeles announced dancer, choreographer and educator Janie Taylor as its new Artistic Director in 2024. Taylor has announced new additions to the dance program’s curriculum to include CRAFT courses designed to create opportunities for students to explore creative disciplines that intersect with dance. The first is Duet with Film, an immersive six-week course led by internationally recognized filmmaker and Dance Camera West Director Kelly Hargraves that will meet twice a week from September 15 through October 22, 2026 with a public “Rough Cuts” screening and feedback session on October 22nd. Other future upcoming CRAFT courses will focus on lighting, costumes, and music and be offered when the new Frank Gehry designed Dance Center opens in the fall of 2027. Located across the street from the School’s existing campus at the intersection of Olive and Second Streets, the new Dance Center “will create expanded opportunities for interdisciplinary artistic exploration and collaboration, while providing the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute with a greater platform to connect with the broader artistic community.” (Press release)
LADP – Janie Taylor and David Adrian Freeland, Jr. in “I fall, I flow, I melt” by Benjamin Millepied – Photo by Daniel Beres for Zegna Sartori.
Recently I had the great opportunity and pleasure to interview Hargraves on Zoom to learn more about Duet with Film. As a co-founder and current Director of Dance Camera West, Hargraves knows film dance from multiple perspectives.
Kelly Hargraves – Dance Camera West – Photo by Angel Castro.
When asked how Duet with Film came about, Hargraves said that Taylor approached her about creating this course. “We’re a pilot project for the Colburn to connect to outside community members. Myself and guest artists, including Jesse Lee Thorne, (MovementFest LA), will present core concepts over the first few weeks and then students will be mentored through creating a film,” Hargraves explained. It’s a kind of full circle moment to include Jesse who took a DCW workshop with award-winning director Katrina McPherson that DCW presented at Santa Monica College and decided to study with Katrina at The Place in London, so it’s nice to bring that knowledge back to LA creators this way.” Hargraves anticipates soon announcing other guest artists along with the names of the panelists who will give feedback to the participants of Duet with Film.
“Out of Ordinary” – Still courtesy of DCW.
“It is both a professional level class and open to newbies as well.” Hargraves noted “Really the goal of the class is creation and making a project. I’ve made all my films in workshops like this. I’m just using my experience in these settings to facilitate creative process.” she said. “We will also be showing some really great films from dance history and explaining why they are great.” There is room for 25 students to participate in Duet with Film.
Workshop – Photo courtesy of DCW.
Hargraves explained that when she begins such a project, she finds the cast and the crew, and then they work collaboratively and for each other. She added that there is always someone who doesn’t want to shoot, who just wants to be in the film or someone who only wants to shoot and not dance. People always find their role so she encourages everyone with any level of interest to join.
Colburn School Logo – Courtesy of DCW.
The course is scheduled to meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 – 7:30pm at the Colburn School so that people who have jobs can take it as a night class, and also to allow for some rehearsal sessions. The first few weeks of Duet with Film will involve receiving information, participating in exercises, and trying experiments. Then the sessions will be dedicated to the participants shooting their scenes, receiving feedback, and mentorship.
Workshop – Photo courtesy of DCW.
So, what more does Duet with Film involve? Here is part of the description from DCW’s press release.
Duet with Film offers both theoretical and practical approaches to creating and capturing movement specifically for the screen while emphasizing hands-on learning and production. Under Hargraves’s mentorship, participants will delve into concept development, choreography for camera, cinematography, site-specific filmmaking, editing and post-production, and collaborative production techniques. Working together as cast and crew, they will consider how framing, perspective, the lens, location, and the movement of the camera can transform the way choreography is conceived and experienced, with dedicated time and space throughout the session to develop, shoot, and complete their own work.
Workshop – Photo courtesy of DCW.
I questioned Hargraves on how to include all the information described in the course description in the available time, “Well, it’s based on when I did the Zoom course where I did the whole thing in six hours,” she said. “I basically have six hours of information plus exercises, which will be about a third of the class each time. And then by the fourth week, they already have their crew and are just coming together to rehearse, shoot and make the film.”
Hargraves said that she and Thorne walked around the Colburn School campus and saw many great areas to shoot. She noted that a cafeteria is a wonderful place to experiment with working with tables and chairs, and the entire campus is available to work with architecture and crazy staircases. “Colburn is downtown so there are lots of places to shoot,” she said.
Workshop – Photo courtesy of DCW.
Another part of this course will be teaching the participants how to reflect on and talk about their work. “I really want people to think things through when they’re making a film as much as they would their stage work,” she stressed. She and Thorne really believe in having a narrative structure, in scripting, shooting lists, and finding one’s angles. “And really, really working this stuff to be good. No noodling. I hope that people come in with a stage piece that they want to re-envision for film. That’s my favorite because then they come in with strong choreography. We just place it in different places.”
This is not unlike how many choreographers think about a new work. They often have a place or situation in mind and use their body as the metaphor for that on stage. But, what makes it different is that in film the choreographer and filmmaker can take the audience to that place or be that person.
“Duet with Film” flyer – Courtesy of DCW.
Like the majority of filmmakers, Hargraves wants the participants of Duet with Film to have a production process where things get vetted, others watch your film takes and then give feedback, and afterwards you keep going even if it means taking a section of the choreography out of the film.
She wants those who take part in this workshop and those who come to the showing on October 22nd to realize that these films are rough cuts. “Maybe some will be finished, but I don’t think so,” she said.
Kelly Hargraves – Photo by Lisa Shields.
Near the end of the interview Hargraves said Duet with Film is not being taught like a typical course. “There are no tests, no exams, and no official curriculum that you have to study and learn from. There will be a questionnaire so that we know the participants’ backgrounds and what each of them wishes to get out of the experience and we will design the course toward that”
Hargraves will be doing an IG Live On Thursday September 3rd at 2pm so that people will be able to ask her questions about Duet with Film. One of those questions is always why does it cost so much? Knowing that it is a lot of money up front, Hargreaves noted “If you divide the cost, $500, by the number of hours, it’s actually cheaper than a yoga class.”
Flyer – Q&A on Instagram about the workshop – Courtesy of DCW.
If participants would like to submit questions they can send them to info@dancecamerawest.org
- Duet with Film Course Information – https://colburnschool.edu/youth-dance-programs/programs/duet-with-film
- Duet with Film Registration – https://go.asapconnected.com/?org=5049#EventID=3076098
***********
WHAT: Duet with Film
WHEN: September 15 to October 22, 2026
Tuesday and Thursdays, 5:30–7:30 pm
Ages 18+ | Tuition $500
Showing and Feedback on October 22, 2026. Time TBA
WHERE: Colburn School, 200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
To learn more about the Colburn Dance, please visit their website.
For more information about Dance Camera West, please visit their website.
Written by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: Kelly Hargraves (far right behind Cati Jean) shooting on Easdale Island, Scotland at the Screen Dance Workshop with Katrina McPherson – Photo courtesy of DCW.
