Great Article About Teaching Jazz Dance

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 Mattox, 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 website (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 it 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 just do 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.”
Here are some tips on how to incorporate lessons about jazz legends into a regular studio class:
1) Connect the movements you teach in class to jazz history: “If I’m doing a swing number then I tell my students about George Snowden, who developed the movement called the ‘Shorty George,’” Ralabate says. “Hook them in with the movement. Once they’re into the movement you can say, ‘This is where this all came from.’ For younger students just mentioning the name may be enough. The more advanced they get, the more information you can include.”
2) Bring in master teachers to show combinations or styles you’re not familiar with. “We may do eight weeks of a semi-Luigi or other master’s technique and then go back to the Giordano technique. Or I may pick one class during the week and make it a different technique,” says Johnson. “I’ve had someone who has done the Fosse style come in and teach a combination. I’ve done the same thing to give my students a taste of hip hop.” Johnson also takes her students to the annual Jazz Dance World Congress (www.jazzdanceworldcongress.org), established by Giordano, where they are able to take classes by jazz masters as well as see some of the top jazz companies from around the world (see Dance Wire, page 16).
Learn more from these books:Jazz Dance Today by Larraine Person Kriegel and Kim Chandler-Vaccaro Jump Into Jazz by Minda Goodman Kraines and Esther KanJazz Dance by Marshall and Jean StearnsLuigi’s Jazz Warm Up: And Introduction to Jazz Style & Technique by LuigiJazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance by Marshall Winslow StearnsFrank Hatchett’s Jazz Dance by Frank Hatchett, Nancy Myers Gitlin
3) Use visuals—posters and videos of jazz companies and famous routines—around your studio to teach history. “Have that VCR playing in the waiting room all the time, showing routines from movies and shows,” suggests Boross. “Take a routine from one of those videos and try to do part of it, just for class. You can do the audition from A Chorus Line or Fosse’s Steam Heat. When you’re teaching or showing these routines, you can talk a little about the contributions that Michael Bennett or Bob Fosse made to jazz.”
4) Periodically, host special events at your studio to encourage student interest in jazz history. “Make a party on a Saturday afternoon where instead of the kids leaving, you order in some pizza and have them stay to watch some videos,” Boross says. “Organize a trip for students at your studio to see a show.”

See a timeline at: http://www.dance-teacher.com/backissues/aug00/jazzdance.shtml