{"id":382801,"date":"2026-07-01T23:33:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/382801\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T23:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:33:16","slug":"the-future-is-looking-bright-for-this-young-filmmaker-and-ballet-dancer-los-gatan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/382801\/","title":{"rendered":"The future is looking bright for this young filmmaker and ballet dancer | Los Gatan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Will<\/a>LOOKING UP – Will Stout considers a studio light, in between discussing the documentary short he\u2019s been working on for the past several years. He\u2019s also a talented ballet dancer. (Faizi Samadani \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

William McClure Stout attended three separate high schools to pursue a future in the arts. After completing two years at Los Gatos High School, his Los Gatos Ballet<\/a> instructors, Peter Doll<\/a> and Kristin D\u2019Addario<\/a>, suggested he consider transferring to a program at San Francisco Ballet School. He ultimately landed at Columbia University.<\/p>\n

In his junior year at Convent & Stuart Hall in San Francisco, Stout he interviewed upwards of 25 people in the dance community around the world, as part of the Design to Action Scholar Program. He couldn\u2019t help but notice a recurring issue\u2014stigma faced by male dancers. Stout recalls how, at a 16-year-old, even he could feel that many people didn\u2019t take him seriously. This inspired Stout to make a film about his experience. He reached out to filmmaker Quinn Wharton (who has now worked with names such as NBC, BOSE, Airbnb and Rolex) to help him pursue this. Stout decided to zero-in on his love of dance, chasing his dreams by finishing his senior year of high school in New York City. He wanted to learn the more detailed American approach, instead of just classic European forms.<\/p>\n

Though Stout\u2019s home base has changed, he\u2019s still fed by the same passion for dance. And slowly but surely, he began to find his place in the arts community. But ballet was where it all started for Stout. And that\u2019s what led him to Columbia University\u2014where he\u2019s pursuing film and media studies. \u201cOne of the beautiful elements of dance is that it\u2019s fleeting,\u201d he said. \u201cThe nature of film is that you can capture that beauty for eternity.\u201d Stout says there\u2019s a big gulf between the two art forms.<\/p>\n

\"headshot\"PROFILE \u2013 Will Stout poses for a classic headshot with a New York sweater representing his current home base. (Faizi Samadani \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

Back when he was in San Francisco, he developed an interest in other arts avenues besides dance. \u201cMy entire childhood has been defined by the arts community and the passion for the arts,\u201d he said. His excitement for film began to blossom. He even started a nonprofit called The Will to Dance in 2024. The mission of this organization is to inspire young male dancers. For the next three years, Stout will continue his studies at Columbia. He\u2019s racking-up professional experiences in dance, as well as gaining exposure to the film industry there in the Big Apple.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"KristinAT THE BARRE \u2013 Directors at Los Gatos Ballet, Kristin D\u2019Addaro and Peter Doll, chat about their current plans for the school. (Faizi Samadani \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

Teachers, artists and AI<\/p>\n

Doll and D\u2019Addario came to Los Gatos Ballet from Atlanta, Ga., in 2017. They\u2019ve directed the school since 2022. It may look effortless, but ballet is actually quite a demanding discipline, they say. \u201cThe body degrades after a while from the ballet world,\u201d said D\u2019Addario. Both say they plan to continue instructing for the foreseeable future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

D\u2019Addario says that she pursues excellence at Los Gatos Ballet, especially in contrast to the emergence of AI. \u201cI came across a piece of music the other day that was AI generated,\u201d she said, adding she believes nothing can replace the visceral connection people have to in-person, kinetic displays. \u201cI\u2019m kind of hoping that it will circle back, because people will crave live performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doll says he picked up on Stout\u2019s abilities back when the student was just 10. There was maturity there. \u201cA ballet class is very tedious and boring in the beginning with slow and detailed work,\u201d said Doll. \u201cHe was very focused and serious.\u201d Stout has stayed in touch with Doll and D\u2019Addario. (D\u2019Addario attended the same dance school as Stout at the School of American Ballet in New York, about 25 years ago.) The relationship with Stout was one of mentorship. But now they\u2019re becoming friends\u2014a reminder that bonds formed via the arts can extend far beyond.<\/p>\n

Aspiring film makers from Los Gatos<\/p>\n

Stout met Santoro while at LGHS. Santoro made \u201cFentanyl High\u201d<\/a> in 2023, which explored the teen opioid crisis. The school has seen a steady rollout of students who\u2019ve chosen the filmmaking path. Earlier this year, the Los Gatan interviewed two grads, Alec Goldberg and Clayton Susick, who premiered their pilot \u201cSoft Boil\u201d at Sundance Film Festival<\/a>. These are just some of the youth beginning to carve their name into the film universe.<\/p>\n

Many larger silver screen and literary figures were either born in Los Gatos, or stopped here to create their work. John Steinbeck wrote Mice of Men and Grapes of Wrath while living in Monte Sereno. Alfred Hitchcock kept an estate in Scotts Valley, as he became familiar with the area through Joan Fontaine, an Oscar winner who attended Los Gatos High School. Many of the Hollywood set would visit Hitchcock\u2019s estate\u2014such as Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. Charlie Chaplin was known to spend time in Los Gatos at the Cats Estate and the once Lyndon Hotel, which is now Lyndon Plaza.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stout is currently 19 years old and busy with his postsecondary studies. But who\u2019s to say he won\u2019t become the next household name, part of a new generation that influences the masses with creative output? One of Stout\u2019s key traits is his ability to transform pain into purpose\u2014or as some call it alchemy. Even though he\u2019s only now completing his second decade of life, he\u2019s certainly a contender.<\/p>\n

Documentary coming soon<\/p>\n

Stout\u2019s documentary, \u201cThe Will to Dance,\u201d is being submitted to the San Francisco Dance Film Festival and the Sundance Film Festival. Stout began working on his film during his junior year of high school. It\u2019s a collaboration with the San Francisco Ballet, as well as a Golden State Warriors dancer. The short film should come out to about 15 minutes. Stout says he\u2019s planning to screen the doc locally. Stout is scheduled to finish the film by the year\u2019s end. He describes it as \u201can integration of different forms of dance, like ballet, hip-hop, jazz, modern and contemporary.\u201d Stout hopes it will give a boost to the next generation of male dancers. \u201cI just hope they can find a community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOOKING UP – Will Stout considers a studio light, in between discussing the documentary short he\u2019s been working…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[24812,30734,154646,28734,154647,36517,28729,13260,15587,154648,154649,4694,154650,154651,101,88,90,89],"class_list":["post-382801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-airbnb","tag-ballet","tag-bose","tag-columbia-university","tag-convent-stuart-hall","tag-dancer","tag-documentary","tag-fentanyl","tag-filmmaking","tag-kristin-daddario","tag-los-gatos-ballet","tag-new-york","tag-peter-doll","tag-rolex","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}