Chicago: Paint the Town Jazz
There is a good reason Bob Fosse sent his merry murderesses to the Cook County Jail—turns out the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical was based on a true story that took place in the Windy City in 1924. Although “Chicago” is an exaggerated account of the crimes that occurred (there were only two alleged murderers, not six), it still holds much of Chicago’s history, especially the presence and significance of jazz, intact.
Chicago was a crazy town in the Roaring ‘20s. Newcomers poured in from the South in search of new jobs, while gangsters roamed the streets in search of illicit ones. It was the middle of Prohibition, and speakeasies were bustling with women in high heels and men in top hats. They stayed out late drinking gin, smoking cigarettes, and, of course, dancing to jazz music.
Soon, the Jazz Age was in full swing. Vaudeville, nightclub and cabaret acts popped up all over and Chi-Town was hooked. Performers were doing popular vernacular steps, many of which originated in south African-American communities, like the Charleston.
After Prohibition ended, jazz became a little lighter and smoother, or as they called it, cool. During this time jazz dance began to change as well, transforming from a purely vernacular style to a more codified technique. The person most instrumental in this change was the legendary Gus Giordano, who founded Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, the original jazz dance company in the United States.
Giordano’s daughter Nan, who now serves as the current artistic director of the Giordano company, says that he fell in love with Chicago after moving from New York City for a job offer. “He decided this is where I want it all to be and to raise my family, and that's how it started.”
In 1963, he founded the company as Dance Incorporated Chicago, later making it Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. He made Chicago part of the company’s name because “he considered it such an important influence, as well as a major identifier throughout the world,” explains Ben Hodge, former executive director for the Giordano company and current director of Jazz Dance World Congress (JDWC). JDWC, which was also founded by Giordano in Chicago, is a five-day event that “celebrates the uniquely American art form of jazz dance.”
“In 1990 he [Giordano] founded the Jazz Dance World Congress as a way to highlight the importance of jazz dance, and especially concert jazz dance, throughout the world,” Hodges continues. “And whether the Congress in subsequent years has been held in Chicago or elsewhere in the world, the connection with Chicago has always remained important.”
For Jump Rhythm Jazz Project (JRJP), a company that formed in New York City and moved to Chicago in the late 1990s, the relationship to the Windy City is just as special. “I was invited by Northwestern University to join the dance faculty to head up the jazz and tap program,” explains artistic director Billy Siegenfeld, who was previously the director of dance at Hunter College. “At that point I didn’t really have a steady group of dancers. It became more of a formalized ensemble company here [in Chicago].”
He started working with Susan Lee, director of the Department of Theatre at Northwestern, whom he credits as the catalyst for the expansion of JRJP. “It was very tough for me to make an ensemble happen in New York City,” Siegenfeld reveals. “But Susan was very serious about jazz. And the fact that she was also in Chicago where there are more jazz companies than any other city I’m sure helped her to understand that this was an important part of the dance world.”
Siegenfeld’s connection to Chicago began prior to that, when he presented and taught at the first Jazz Dance World Congress. Today, nearly two decades later, his company is going strong as it approaches the 20th anniversary milestone. He attributes a large portion of the success of JRJP to Chicago’s dedication to jazz as well as its strong sense of community.
For many Chicago based companies, staying connected with the community is paramount. Last month, the Giordano company held an annual event called “Dancing with the Giordano Stars,” which is a “benefit for the company and the dancers, as well as an opportunity to work with people in the community one-on-one.” Participants ranged from the vice president of Air France to the president of Bridgeview Bank—some of the city’s heaviest hitters. “They learned a fox trot, a dance of their choice, and then they competed,” says Nan.
According to Nan, the city plays an important role in the Giordano company’s artistic identity. “Chicago is a very diverse community and we're right along with the pulse of our city,” she explains. “We have a lot of diversity within our dancers, but even more so in the repertoire of jazz—it's very diverse, just like the city.”
For regular performances, the company dances right in the center of it all at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, located at the north end of Millennium Park in the Loop district of downtown Chicago. The Loop is home to Chicago’s theater district, which has six major theaters including Ford Center for the Performing Arts, The Chicago Theatre, the Auditorium Theatre, the Cadillac Palace Theatre, the Goodman Theatre and the LaSalle Bank Theatre.
“Our city has so much to offer with dance and the arts of course at large, but dance in particular,” reveals Nan. “And it's a wonderful community for family. It has everything.” In addition to some of the most highly respected dance schools in the nation, such as the Giordano School, Lou Conte School, and the new Joffrey Academy of Dance, the city has some exciting jazz related activities that are family and community oriented.
The Chicago Jazz Festival, the longest running of the city's lakefront music festivals, is a staple. For the past 30 years, it has been a Labor Day weekend tradition. Another fun dance related activity is the annual Chicago SummerDance festival, which took place June 11 through August 23. Chicago SummerDance is an 11-week festival featuring one-hour dance lessons by professional instructors, followed by two hours of live music and dancing. It is free and open to the public.
Chicago is home to a number of professional jazz companies that perform regularly around town. Some of them include River North Chicago Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Joel Hall Dancers Chicago and Thodos Dance Chicago. All of these companies were present at the last Jazz Dance World Festival, which was part of the JDWC this past July. The Festival, which was co-presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, consists of nightly jazz dance concerts featuring five or more professional dance companies from around the world.
What makes Chicago so special is its commitment to preserving jazz as a classical art form, while at the same time moving forward with a spirit of open-mindedness. “In comparison to LA, it's more diverse because it's the concert world not the commercial,” explains Nan. “And in New York City you have more of the Broadway vein.” Chicago lies somewhere in the middle, completely secure with its identity and still very connected to the jazz masters who codified their techniques there years ago.
A visit to Chicago is a great way to introduce students (and yourself!) to the history of jazz dance, while also exposing them to a number of companies that may be of interest come audition time. However, most locals would recommend visiting in the summer—the Windy City measures up to its climatological reputation. Cold, but full of dance, music and culture, Chicago is the perfect place to paint the town… and all that jazz.