Kelly is an Canadian dance film creator and curator residing in California since 2000. A trailblazer in the intersection of movement and film, Kelly has been instrumental in shaping DCW’s legacy, from co-founding the dance film festival in 2001 to returning in 2018 with a renewed vision of inclusivity and innovation. Kelly’s roots are in dance and film, which provide the foundation of her pioneering work with DCW, including her advocacy for underrepresented voices through the Visibility initiative, for which she has executive produced 16 films since 2019. She has seen first hand how the genre of dance film has evolved over the years, amplifies the importance of creative collaborations, and hopes that the festival continues to unite artists and audiences from around the world.

Kelly has directed several dance films that screen internationally, and she travels as a guest lecturer, panel speaker and jury member. In Summer 2026 she is a 2026 artist in residence in Tbilisi Georgia and will be part of MOVEMENT FEST LA at LA Dance Project space. In Fall 2026 she will teach dance filmmaking at the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles.

She has a Masters in Dance Film from NYU Gallatin School (Dance Film Theory), a BFA in Contemporary Dance from Montréal’s Concordia University, and a BA in Communication Studies/Theater History) from the University of Windsor, Canada. She danced independently as a soloist and in companies in Montréal and New York, and was a member of PoMoCoMo artist and scientist collective in the 1980s.

Hargraves was a board member of the Silver Lake Film Festival, and a founding member of the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival. Having worked for U.S. indie film distributors First Run Features, Kino International, Film Movement, OVID/Icarus Films, Kelly has represented artists such as Michael Apted, Lizzie Borden, Cheryl Dunye, Barbara Kopple, Ross McElwee, Monika Truet, and Wayne Wang, and many more. She was a dance reviewer for Dance Insider, Ballet–Tanz International, Dance on Camera News, Danceonline.com, Campus Circle Magazine, Cover Magazine, and Dance Connection Magazine, and a music radio DJ for over 10 years at CKUT FM and CJAM FM in Canada.