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Roots of Jazz

Jazz Dance originated from African American vernacular dance during the 1800’s to mid-1900’s. This growing style became especially popular in the 19th century throughout African American. Jazz follows “modern rhythms, sounds, and techniques but also heavily promoted the sense of individuality, spontaneous dancing, free flow dancing and showcase of the skills dancers” (Dancefacts.net). This specific style of dance was created around social gatherings and interactions between groups of people. These tribal dances and rhythmic-based had a technique that was described by historians and music experts  “as almost “conversation-like” qualities, in which both the dancers and music players reacted one to another, creating free-flowing music that enchanted them completely” (Dancefacts.net). Traditional styles of jazz dance and music were located in New Orleans during the 1900’s. This was known as the “hot-spot” of musical testing and allowed for innovation and popularization. With the rising reputation of jazz dance with the guidance from choreographers such as Luigi, Katherine Dunham, Giordano, Fosse, and Matt Maddox, Jazz was able to progress into a modern art form. Jazz is now one of the most prominent styles of dance, being seen more and more every day.  

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Choreographers (1930-1990)

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Luigi

Luigi is credited as “The Father of Jazz” due to his creation of the first formalized form of jazz. Eugene Louis Faccuito was born on March 20, 1925 and passed away at the age of 90 on April 7, 2015. Gene Kelly actually gave him the nickname "Luigi". Dance historians have defined Luigi’s style as “classic jazz, elegant, sophisticated and even liquid fire”(Longstaff & Scott 1).  Before he began teaching, Luigi was actually in a serious car accident that left him with double vision and paralyzed on one side of his body. The most significant idea behind Luigi’s technique is opposition. Opposition comes into play because a dancer needs to be stable on one side of their body, while extending or reaching away from the other. This idea of having a barre in center is what fully allowed Luigi to overcome his disabilities and continue dancing.  He began teaching a jazz class in 1951, the exercise routine he created for his own rehabilitation after the accident became the world’s first complete technique for learning jazz dance. Luigi is praised for not only a miraculous recovery, but for developing a miraculous dance and rehabilitating technique.

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amy winehouse 2007

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Katherine Dunham

Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1909 in Chicago, to an African American father and a French-Canadian mother. She sang  in her local Methodist church, mainly gospel songs, but really never considered a career in dance. She agreed to her family’s wish that she follow her brother and become a teacher at the University of Chicago. There, “she earned a bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree in anthropology” (kdcah.org). Katherine Dunham was one of the first people to consider ethnic people for choreography, and from there on changed the anthropological dance movement. “Katherine Dunham revolutionized American dance in the 1930's by going to the roots of black dance and rituals transforming them into significant artistic choreography that speaks to all” (kdcah.org). Katherine Dunham finalized innovative work on Caribbean and Brazilian anthropology as a new academic discipline and proved to the world that black heritage is something to be proud of.  “She is credited for brining these Caribbean and African influences on a European-dominated dance world” (kdcah.org). Katherine Dunham worked to marry traditional African American and Caribbean dance, all while changing individuals’ views on diversity in dance.

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Poster by Paul Colin, 1947.

Katherine Dunham, of Chicago born, has been called “the matriarch and queen mother of black dance.” A student at the University of Chicago, she took a leave of absence to study Caribbean dance and ethnography – a performance path she’d follow for the rest of her life. 1947 was a huge year for her. She began it by choreographing the musical play Windy City, which debuted in her hometown; then she opened a cabaret show in the brand-new tourist destination of Las Vegas, and followed that up with tours in Mexico and Europe, “where she was an immediate sensation.” Colin’s poster, a spiritual successor to his world famous Revue Nègre and Bal Nègre for Josephine Baker, captures the Windy City jazz opening in Paris: all fishnets and flappers and zoot suits and gangster hats – with a little bit of the voodoo that they both do so well.

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Gus Giordano

Gus Giordano (1923-2008) is remembered as the “Godfather of American Jazz Dancing.” However, he could also be considered a teacher, choreographer, company founder, author, and also the person who help make jazz dance distinguished and respected art form. Being from St. Louis, Giordano is said to have had his first experiences of dance in New Orleans. Giordano began taking ballet and modern dance classes back home in St. Louis from Minette Buchmann. He began choreographing for stage, film, and TV, all while creating the Gus Giordano Jazz technique. Giordano also published several impactful books. One, being the first of its kind entitled “Anthology of American Jazz Dance” (1976). “In 1984 Giordano received the Dance Educators of America Award for his “outstanding contribution to the world of jazz dance.” A recipient of many distinguished honors, he received the Third Annual Katherine Dunham Award for “excellence and great contributions to the Arts” in 1999 and served as National Spokesperson for National Dance Week in 1997” (Semko). Semko says that Giordano’s daughter, Amy, has made her father’s dream come true by moving Gus Giordano Dance School to the city of Chicago.

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Gus Giordano’s Jazz Dance Tribute to Michael Jordan

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Bob Fosse

Robert Louis Fosse was born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 23, 1927. Bob had six other siblings and quickly learned that the way to win attention from his family was through his immaculate dancing. Bob Fosse was recognized as a child prodigy in dance. Fosse was granted a couple small Broadway chorus roles, but his big break was in the 1953 movie musical of KISS ME, KATE. From there, Fosse caught the eyes of experts: Jerome Robbins and George Abbott.  “Fosse’s first fully choreographed show was 1954’s “The Pajama Game” (pbs.org). This film was directed by Abbott and made Fosse a success immediately. This “showcased his trademark choreographic style: sexually suggestive forward hip-thrusts; the vaudeville humor of hunched shoulders and turned-in feet; the amazing, mime-like articulation of hands” (pbs.org). He preferred to recall the image of Charlie Chaplin, dressing his dancers in all black with white gloves. Fosse had  “incorporated all the tricks of vaudeville that he had learned — pratfalls, slights-of-hand, double takes. Fosse received the first of his many Tony Awards for Best Choreography for “The Pajama Game.” (pbs.org). From the late 1960s to the late 1970s, Fosse created a number of revolutionary films and stage musicals. His first, being the 1972 film Cabaret, then moving on to Pippin. This show became “the highest earning Broadway show in history, as well as the first Broadway show to advertise on national television. “Pippin” was awarded five Tony Awards for the 1972-73 season, one of them given to Fosse for best direction and choreography” (pbs.org). Fosse’s work has become some of the most inspirational work, being still referenced to this day.

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Matt Mattox

Matt Mattox (1921 – 2013) grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Born as Harold Henry Mattox in 1921, left an everlasting mark on jazz dance in both the Europe and the US. Mattox spent more than 30 of his later years in France developing his own technique of jazz.  He formed jazz into a dance style all its own, creating much of the customs and vocabulary following jazz dance. His formal dance training didn’t begin until he was 11 years old and his family moved from Oklahoma to Los Angeles. Mattox had a ballet background which put gave him many jobs, including screen and stage. “In the Hollywood realm, Mattox held nearly 20 movie roles and made a lasting impression as frontiersman Caleb Pontipee in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” (1954)” (Semko). Mattox’s mentor was Jack Cole and was often believed to have set Mattox’s focus on jazz after casting him as a dancer in “Magdalena” on Broadway. Mattox decided that “From the mid-1950s on, Mattox taught his art to countless students…He began in New York and later went to London, where he created his own company, JazzArt, and taught for 5 years at the London’s Dance Centre” (Semko). Mattox found a passion for teaching; he did not know he had. He taught and created as much work as he could in the meantime. Not feeling fulfilled “He ultimately settled in the French commune of Roussillon in the 1980s with his wife, Martine Limeul Mattox, whom he met in London in the mid-1970s. Both dancers kept busy schedules teaching at Ecole Jazz Art Matt Mattox. He taught until he was nearly 90 years old. Mattox died in France in 2013, at the age of 91” (Semko). Matt Mattox was one of the most influential teachers, attempting to make sure his legacy lives on, which it surely does.

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BROADWAY (1974). Illustraton by Hilary Knight (1926).

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Modern Jazz Dance

During the twentieth century, jazz dance took a journey of transformation, organization, and adoption. Many interpreted jazz dances in a variety of different ways, as influenced by society. “Mainstream popularity of jazz music/dance technique arrived only after World War I when modern sound broadcasting techniques enabled easier sharing of music across the entire United States” (Dance Facts). Choreographers such as Luigi, Katherine Dunham, Giordano, Fosse, and Matt Maddox, all have influenced jazz dance in countless ways. One of these ways being that many developed techniques that are still used to this day. Traditional styles of jazz dance/music that were located in New Orleans during the 1900’s, have now circulated all over the US. Many current US artists still use these styles to exhibit their own work, and others draw from the inspiration. This inspiration can range from translating only the style, to almost copying the choreography exactly. These renowned choreographers have taken their own training and interpreted it into their own technique and ideas. Jazz dance has progressed from not only just a social dance, to competition dance, interpretive dance, etc. Jazz has and will continue progress with more choreographers that add to this existing legacy.

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Works Cited

“Bob Fosse.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/bob-fosse/.

“Dancers Teachers + Choreographers LUIGI.” OFF JAZZ - LUIGI (Eugene Louis FACCIUTO), Longstaff, Jeffery Scott. Bartenieff Fundamentals and Developmental Movement Patterns. 2004.

“History of Jazz Dance.” Jazz Dance - History of Jazz in a Dance Form, www.dancefacts.net/dance-list/jazz-dance/.

“Jazz Dance.” Dance Connection Rochester, www.danceconnectionrochester.com/dance/jazz-dance.

“Katherine Dunham - Katherine Dunham Biography.” Katherine Dunham - Katherine Dunham Biography, kdcah.org/katherine-dunham-biography/.

Semko, Elizabeth, et al. “Gus Giordano.” Dance Advantage, 10 Aug. 2015, www.danceadvantage.net/giordano-jazz-dance/.

Semko, Elizabeth, et al. “Matt Mattox.” Dance Advantage, 7 Oct. 2015, www.danceadvantage.net/matt-mattox/.