My journey into dance began through the lens—capturing movement photography that quickly pulled me into the orbit of the dance community in Los Angeles and beyond. What started as stills evolved into deep, ongoing collaborations, leading to hundreds of shoots, workshops, and two artist residencies: with CalArts’ dance department, where I now teach CineDance, and another with the internationally acclaimed Benjamin Millepied and the Los Angeles Dance Project, for whom I’ve documented everything from press materials to live performances.

As I transitioned into filmmaking, it felt natural to bring dance with me. What I’ve found along the way is that dance films are their own world—different, layered, and filled with creative potential; in many ways, the last true independent cinema. I’m proud to have screened films at numerous film festivals, won a few honors, as well as having judged the Los Angeles Dance Film Festival and led workshops at Dance Camera West. I currently teach dance filmmaking for CalArts’ CineDance course, available to both film and dance MFA students. But the true joy is in the creative partnerships that get created during the filmmaking process.

“The best analogy I can come up with is that dance films are to narrative films what painting is to illustration - similar tools but different intentions. You approach dance films from a fine art-orientation, looking to first and foremost capture a concept, feeling, mood or even story, but through movement, rather than a more scripted or linear narrative structure. My heart and soul is in the fine arts, so for me, the process is exciting and organic to how I like to create.”

- Josh S. Rose