Jazz Dance: The American Discipline

Jazz as a pop dance style means past contributors are easily forgotten.

By Karyn D. Collins

Issue: August 2000

Thanks to the 1999 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Fosse, most jazz dance students are now familiar with the name Bob Fosse. Fosse was, of course, the choreographer whose singular style became synonymous with the dance musical and yielded shows like Sweet Charity and Damn Yankees, as well as the movie All That Jazz. But how many students know about Jack Cole, the man who inspired Fosse? Would the names Luigi, Matt Mottox, Lynn Simonson or Gus Giordano draw blank stares from the same students now sporting Fosse T-shirts? Do they know who Billy Siegenfeld is? How about Ruth Walton or Phil Black?

"My guess is that most dance students don't really know who these people are," says Tom Ralabate, director of the Kiptom Dance Center in suburban Buffalo, NY, and chairman of dance at the University at Buffalo. “They may recognize a name like Giordano but they probably don’t really know what his contributions to the field are.” For the record, Luigi, Mattox, Giordano, Simonson and Siegenfeld have each developed codified jazz techniques that are taught worldwide. Cole is widely considered to be the father of jazz because of his innovative work as a choreographer and teacher. Walton and Black are two of the jazz world’s leading teachers as are Charles Kelley, Marcus Alford and Frank Hatchett.

“Jazz dance changes so quickly and it always reflects what’s going on now,” says Bob Boross, a dance instructor who specializes in the Mattox technique. Boross has also written about jazz dance history and developed a jazz dance webstie (www.jazzart.org). “When what might have been important 20 years ago doesn’t fit the mold now, it’s forgotten. Jazz is marketed on what is today. It’s just like with pop music, if it’s not the new thing, young people aren’t interested. It doesn’t get the attention that the newest thing does.”

The pop element of jazz means that it’s not often considered a serious dance form worthy of the same amount of study as ballet and modern dance. It can be difficult for teachers to find the necessary background information to pass on to their students: Many dance history classes do not include jazz. “With ballet, heaven knows we don’t have to talk about whether students know who some of the important people are. But jazz is still relatively new and it’s just not taken as seriously, “ says Joy Johnson, who is director of Johnson’s Dance/Gymnastics Studio in Owensboro, KY, and teaches the Giordano technique.

Studio owners who study and teach jazz history say that for many teachers, the problem isn’t as simple as knowing who the important teachers and choreographers are – the real dilemma is time. “For teachers in a studio setting, giving the history and philosophy of these people is very difficult,” Ralabate says. “Time is very limited. You may only see a group of students once or twice a week for 90 minutes at a time. It’s not like a university setting. There, you may have a history class or the classes may meet several times a week, allowing you to focus on technique and history.”

Johnson suggests many teachers might also be uncomfortable teaching techniques or styles that they may have seen but never really studied. “I studied Giordano technique. I know it inside and out. I trained in it, but I cannot honestly teach a good Luigi class or a Mattox class. I’ve seen them. I know they’re important but I wouldn’t feel comfortable trying to teach them myself,” she explains.

“If you’re a Graham teacher in modern then that’s your world. If you’re a Cecchetti teacher in ballet then that’s your world. But jazz is different,” says Ralabate. “It’s almost impossible to do just one technique and not reflect the other techniques and styles. Jazz is so encompassing. I think if you call yourself a jazz teacher, you have to not only keep up with what’s new but also with what’s come before.”

Most of you have heard of the performers who have pushed jazz as an art form – from Gene Kelly to Paula Abdul – but there are many other significant jazz innovators. Use this brief timeline as a starting point for further research into the vast world of jazz.

1910

Hanya Holm

Helen Tamiris

Eugene Loring

Katherine Dunham

1920

Daniel Nagrin

Michael Kidd

Agnes de Mille

1930

Matt Mattox

Jack Cole

1940

Jerome Robbins

1950

Luigi

1960

Gus Giordano

Bob Fosse

1970

Michael Bennett

Alvin Ailey

1980

Lou Conte’

Garth Fagan

1990

Danny Buraczeski

Margo Sappington

2000

Billy Siegenfeld