Piroetta: Shaping a Story through Dance and Light

Dario Argento is a film director, screenwriter, and producer, who has created over eighteen films. Ian Guthrie, teacher of the Advanced Video Production and director of the project, was inspired to make the film based on Dario Argento’s “Suspiria”, in which a woman enrolls in a dance academy in Berlin run by witches. During the film, Guthrie noticed that “the whole movie is set in a ballet studio, but there is, in a ninety minute movie, about ten seconds of ballet in it, which was very confounding to me.” The realization gave him the inspiration to create the film, keeping its unique lighting while including more of the dancing aspect. He stated, “How are you not shooting dancers in this sort of incredible light? And I thought, oh, that’s what we’ll do.”

The lighting of the project remains a huge focus of the film, inspired by Dario Argento’s own creative lighting. “People are like, Dario Argento invented the color red [...] but also there are these incredible blue and red shadow patterns [in “Suspiria”],” said Guthrie. To best display the special lighting of the film, the Advanced Video Production class will be working with David Kenton’s new Technical Theater: Introduction to Design and Production class. “When Mr. Guthrie first reached out about this project, I was really excited, and started thinking about ways that I could incorporate this as part of the lighting design unit,” Kenton said. The project will allow for students to learn more about different utilizations of light. Kenton explained how “dance lighting” is different from “theatrical lighting,” as dance lighting has more of an emphasis on “backlight and sidelight which helps to accentuate the shape and movement of the body.”. The project gives students the opportunity to experiment with lighting and develop a deeper understanding of how lighting shapes stories. 

The film also gives the dancing community a chance to shine. Guthrie stated that in the film, “the dancers are the actors [and are] involved in some surreal imagery.” Victoria Morris ’28, a member of the Hopkins Dance Crew, is excited for the opportunity of dancing to be shown in a film: “Dancing for me is a lot of fun, so I just really want Hopkins to see that this is something that I enjoy doing.” Leilani Edusa ’27, captain of the Dance Crew shared that she had “been dancing ever since [she] was little.” After dancing at Hopkins and being a part of the Dance Crew, she found that she was more “comfortable expressing [herself]”. She further added, “As a Black girl, it also meant a lot to be in a space where diversity is celebrated and everyone is welcomed.” Edusa’s past experiences led her to volunteer to be a part of the film, as she thought “it would be cool” to be part of “something creative that mixes dance and film,”also liking the concept of “telling a story through movement” rather than “just performing on stage.” Looking ahead, Edusa is excited for the film’s premiere: “I hope Hopkins can see how powerful and expressive dance can be [...] and how important it is to have diversity in the arts [to] make performances more meaningful.” By transforming personal expression through dance into a major part of the film, “Piroetta” will offer a new connection between dancing and video production. 

By the end of the project, Mr. Guthrie hopes that the Hopkins community takes away the fact that “you can be inspired by something and execute a project if you really want to and [...] learning to do things is trying and figuring out.” “Piroetta” represents three artistic communities coming together to create not just a film, but an opportunity to explore new filming techniques and improve old skills. Guthrie concluded, “We hope that a bunch of people will come out to the video showcase in order to see this premiere of it.” Showing the dedication and creativity of all the students involved, “Piroetta” will be debut at the Hopkins Video Showcase on May 1st, 2026 in the APAC theater.