Dance Camera West
Lynette Kessler
Founding Director 2001–2012
With a career in dance and film Lynette has worked in the nonprofit sector for decades in various capacities. One of Lynette’s major life work accomplishments was the building of Dance Camera West. Launched at The Getty Center in 2002 under her direction Dance Camera West became the world’s foremost dance film festival. With a founders mind and entrepreneurs enthusiasm, Lynette built Dance Camera West into a global brand highly regarded for its diverse inclusivity and community spirit while collaborating with world-class venues throughout Los Angeles.
Lynette provided executive leadership for ten years and developed comprehensive fundraising and marketing strategy. She strategically built Dance Camera West’s outreach and marketing from nothing to an estimated 1.5 million media impressions in 2010 – this number does not include social media. Her goal was to bring dance film to a wide and engaged audience which grew to over 25,000 in a few years.
Lynette cultivated collaborative partnerships with prestigious presenters and educational institutions and inspired others to appreciate and support dance as an art form and as a way to raise larger social issues.
As Dance Camera West’s artistic director Lynette advanced the nascent art form of dance film through critically curated year-round programming including the annual dance film festival. She inspired a new generation of dance film artists by thinking globally, presenting culturally diverse programming and supporting both established and emerging international makers.
Lynette’s vision is to infuse the public mainstream with thought-provoking, artistically innovative dance media content. As a dancer, being aware of past and present cultural forms, she sees the possibility of bringing dance back from the periphery of our society to its fundamental purpose of healing mind-body separation. Lynette as the founding director left Dance Camera West after a decade to continue her creative work. Dance Camera West celebrated it’s 20th anniversary in 2022.
Mary Lee Sanders, Founder Director
Child at Heart, Los Angeles
Dance Camera West widens world-views and helps to develop community by presenting work that cuts across experience levels and pulling in the general audience and the uninitiated. I brought a group of special needs children and their non English-speaking families to the festival. They loved the dance films, and felt comfortable and welcomed.
Ann Philbin, Director
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Dance Camera West has encouraged local artists to explore new forms of dance media, an exciting aspect of contemporary culture and has centered international attention by curators, producers, and critics on our city.
Steven Lavine, President
California Institute of the Arts
Lynette, through Dance Camera West, has played a critical role in keeping those of us in Los Angeles attached to the larger world of dance as well as expanding our view of how dance can live in a media rich environment.