Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park (Chicago, IL)
Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago presents Celebrate Life, a tribute to jazz dance pioneer and company founder Gus Giordano. This exhilarating evening of dance features works choreographed and inspired by Giordano, who passed away earlier this year.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
All dates for this event have expired.
The last event was Saturday October 25, 2008 / 7:30pm. (view all dates)
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The dancers were amazing. I really enjoyed this show. The seats were excellent, especially for the price. I highly recommend this show to anyone interested.
This performance was breath taking. I really enjoed this event.
A good performance of many dances created by the company over the years. Each was preceded by a short film of the choreographer commenting on the life and work of Gus Giordano as well as the piece itself. The standout piece was a dance to Judy Garland's "The Man That Got Away" - a woman dances while a man stands to one side, looking in the distance, virtually motionless. She dances on her own, sometimes around him, sometimes touching him. A very unusual dance, and if you see it, you will see that each part must be very difficult to do well.
Personally, I found the most of the performance to be good but not really inspired dance. But I must say that many others in the audience were obviously delighted, that's what makes the world go round.
The sound for the recorded music could be better, I've had the same impression at this theatre in the past.
The Harris Theatre is a very comfortable and has excellent site lines. The staff is professional and courteous. I once had a real headache of arriving there and not being able to find my companions who had the tickets, and the staff was extraordinarily helpful in helping get us all together.
Great show.
Awesome movement and innovation! A treat for the eyes and soul
Situated in the distinctive setting of Millennium Park, the Harris Theater is an artistic home for the very best of Chicago's world-renowned music and dance and a base for national and international companies. This state-of-the-art theater hosts the most diverse offerings of any venue in the city. With repeated critical acclaim for exceptional visibility and acoustics, the theater provides unparra... More
Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago takes the stage with an exhilarating and energizing show you won’t want to miss. See dynamic dance choreographed or inspired by the legendary man who created the jazz dance art form, Gus Giordano. Don’t miss the company the Chicago Tribune says “performs with strength, heart and joy” as they present an evening of dance to honor their founder, Gus Giordano.
Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago began in 1962 as Dance Incorporated Chicago and became the Giordano Dance Company in 1966 when many of its live performances were broadcast by Chicago's Public Television Station WTTW. In 1968 the company performed American jazz dance for the touring Bolshoi Ballet who were so impressed that an invitation was extended, and the company eventually toured the Soviet Union in 1974, the first jazz dance company to do so. This focus on jazz dance led to a new name--Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago--and its current mission to develop and preserve the indigenous American art form of jazz dance, thereby creating an awareness of jazz dance as a true artistic expression of American life. For more than 40 years, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago has brought the excitement of American jazz dancing to audiences throughout the United States and in countries around the world, including Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and Japan. GJDC serves as host performing company at each summer's Jazz Dance World Congress, which has been held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., at the University at Buffalo, in Japan, Germany, Mexico, Costa Rica, Phoenix, and Chicago. In 2004, the company received the Chicago Dance Award for its production and performance of Ron De Jesus' Prey, representing the vital new directions taken by the company. Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago has a very active outreach and education program, including school performances in the Chicago metropolitan area, a residency with the Chicago Park District, and teaching residencies on many college campuses. Today, Nan Giordano serves as Artistic Director, and Gus Giordano continues a close involvement with all activities of the company. Dance critic and historian Ann Barzel has said that Giordano jazz dance "expresses feelings, portrays emotions, confronts problems, analyzes ideas in the tempo of today. It is accessible. In the exhilaration of its presentations, it mirrors the freedom that we like to think is the American way."
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