Jazz dance is in Nan Giordano’s blood—and so is leadership. In her four decades at the helm of Giordano Dance Chicago, the company founded by her father, jazz luminary Gus Giordano, she’s worked hard to balance legacy with innovation. “We stand on the foundation my father built, but we don’t live in the past,” she […]
A musical theater dance class used to be very easily defined. The style of movement incorporated specific nuances like outstretched fingers, isolations, and clean, long lines. Combinations often emulated the work of Bob Fosse or Jerome Robbins, or were always danced to the same rotation of well-known golden-age songs. But the landscape of movement on […]
I’m a convention kid at heart. One whiff of Aussie hair spray and I’m transported right back to the teen room, where kids clad in Jo+Jax unitards go crazy for Mia Michaels’ “Hometown Glory” choreography. If I close my eyes, I can still feel the ache in my joints and the burns on my knees […]
Khori Michelle Petinaud is back on Broadway. This time, she’s bringing her smooth magnetism to Bob Fosse’s DANCIN’. The suave musical theater star began dancing at 13 years old at Russell’s School of Ballet in Chantilly, Virginia. Once she graduated from high school, she left her hometown studio and moved to Manhattan, where she earned […]
We’ve all been there—standing in front of a sea of eager students, ready to create the next eight counts on them, when our brains decide to shut down. All the creativity we’ve been cultivating in preparation for this choreography session has disappeared, and we are left completely blocked. YIKES! What do we do?? Have the […]
Al Blackstone only recently found his true stride in the dance world. Growing up taking class at his parents’ studio and going to competitions, he loved nothing more than performing. But now, whether he’s teaching a room full of professional-level dancers in New York City, a group of kids at a convention or at the […]
Al Blackstone’s Not For Me For its 21st annual gathering in July, the Fire Island Dance Festival raised a record-breaking $544,555 for Dancers Responding to AIDS. Complexions Contemporary Ballet co-founder Desmond Richardson hosted the festival this year, which included world premieres by Al Blackstone (winner of the 2011 Capezio A.C.E. Award), Joshua Beamish, Pontus Lidberg, […]
We’re excited to be in sunny California for our Dance Teacher Summit this week, where the pages of the magazine come to life. Look who we ran into on opening night: 1. Denise Wall 2. Al Blackstone 3. Kathy Blake 4. Beverly Spell 5. Robin Dawn Ryan and Kim Delgrosso […]
Shifting between hard-hitting jazz and gooey contemporary movement, borrowing modern dance’s bare feet and layering character portrayals as bold as those found on Broadway, Al Blackstone’s choreography samples several techniques. “I always like to tell the story that my mom, dad and sister were truly my teachers because they surrounded me with the different styles […]
Denise Blackstone’s studio supports her passion and her family. “She’s so open, spontaneous, with all the hugs. I think it makes the kids feel freer to express themselves, be creative.” —Al Blackstone, about his mother, Denise Denise Blackstone can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to teach. As you watch her tapping up a […]