Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago

Giordano Dance Chicago, formerly Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, is a jazz dance company based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Gus Giordano in 1963 as Dance Incorporated Chicago, it has toured worldwide, including as the first jazz dance company in the Soviet Union in 1974. The company has received widespread critical acclaim, and is said to have been the first jazz dance company.

The company comprises a dozen dancers as well as an apprentice company, Giordano II. Its repertoire includes Giordano's works as well as pieces by Rennie Harris, Mia Michaels, Davis Robertson, and Resident Choreographer Autumn Eckman. Nan Giordano is Artistic Director, and Michael McStraw is Executive Director.

Broadway performer Gus Giordano founded the company as Dance Incorporated Chicago in 1963. After giving a performance for the visiting Bolshoi Ballet, the company was invited to tour the Soviet Union in 1974. The company has since performed around Europe, the Americas, Turkey, and Japan.

Giordano founded the Jazz Dance World Congress, a biennial five-day festival attracting teachers and students from around the world, in 1990. As the host company of the Congress, Giordano Dance Chicago performed at Chukyo University in Japan, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and in Wiesbaden, Germany.

After Gus Giordano died in 2008, his daughter Nan, who had been Artistic Director since the 1980s, took full leadership. In 2010, Michael McStraw was named Executive Director.

The company performs in Chicago and around the world. It continues to preserve and perform Gus Giordano's oeuvre while commissioning new repertory.

...
Wikipedia