Jamila Glass

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Jamila Glass | Photo by Zack Whitford
  • Founding Company Member in 2005
  • Artistic Director in 2021

Filmmaker and Choreographer Jamila Glass is known for creating cinematic journeys of movement, shaping characters, and building worlds that reflect what make us human. In addition to creating work as the Artistic Director of L.A. Contemporary Dance Company (where she joined in 2005 as a founding member), she has choreographed extensively in film and television. Her choreography work includes projects on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, BET, and PRADA and garnered mentions in NY Times, L.A. Times, Essence Magazine, Ebony Magazine, and Mashable.  She recently choreographed and co-directed two commercials for Splice, the music industry's highest quality, royalty-free sample library.

Glass began her formal training as a nine-year-old scholarship student at The Discovery Dance Group in Houston, Texas. She continued dancing in her spare time as a vocal music major at the multi-Grammy award-winning High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Jamila graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Cinema-Television (Film & Video Production) and a Minor in Advertising.

As a performer, she has worked with Ryan Heffington, Galen Hooks, Nina McNeely, Kathryn Burns, David Dorfman, Adam Parson, and Mecca Vazie Andrews.  Other credits include Netflix Original film Mascots from Christopher Guest, American Horror Story, Paul McCartney, Colbie Caillat, Foster the People tour, Mastercard, American Apparel, Samsung, & the NY Times Best Selling photography book Dancers Among Us.

Beyond the stage, Jamila, a director/screenwriter, is currently producing films through her production company The Cutting Room where she has directed 20 critically-acclaimed short dance films, a television pilot, and 2 music videos that have garnered international praise, including film screenings in London, Paris and Lebanon. Her previous work as a freelance editor includes documentary shorts, national radio commercials, and an award-winning independent television network. Her directorial work for LACDC includes and then life was beautiful, INSECTOS: arte y vida (commissioned by the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain), and SUMMON (featuring the music by Emmy award-winning and Grammy and Oscar-nominated Kris Bowers).  She previously served LACDC's Media Director and Summer/Winter Intensive Director, elevating the company's visibility across continents.

She has taught at Schools: Pace University, UCLA, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton, Texas Christian University, Hussian College Los Angeles and has created work for LACDC, Texas Christian University, Cal State Fullerton, University of Illinois Edwardsville, and Co/Motion Creation Intensive (Boston).  

Recent News: Texas Christian University’s (TCU) dance students had such a wonderful experience with Jamila Glass during her Spring 2023 residency that their School of Classical & Contemporary Dance invited her to return in the Fall of 2023 to do another teaching & choreographic residency. She is honored to share the bill for their Fall Concert with world-renowned choreographer Sidra Bell.

Jamila is represented by Movement Talent Agency and is a member of the Television Academy, the Choreographers Guild and SAG-AFTRA.

Watch her teaching reel and check out her class schedule.

*Headshot by Zack Whitford