Giordano Dance Chicago Brings Sizzling Hot Jazz Dance to the MAC 10/15

The McAninch Arts Center (MAC), located at 425 Fawell Blvd., hosts a must-see evening of jazz dance featuring America’s original jazz dance company, Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC), 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15. Now celebrating its 60th anniversary season, GDC will perform a selection of some of the most popular works in the company’s repertoire and give the MAC audience a preview of a new work by GDC’s new Associate Artistic Director Cesar G. Salinas. Following the performance, Salinas will lead a disco-inspired dance class from the Belushi stage. The post-show class is free for all patrons who attended the show and all skill levels are welcomed.

Program highlights include:

• Tony Powell’s electrifying “Impulse” (2006). This will be the first time in more than 13 years GDC has performed this work.
• A preview of a new work, “Lub Dub,” by former GDC company dancer and newly-appointed Associate

Artistic Director Cesar G. Salinas. Salinas sets this new piece for five dancers to music by Travis Lake and Medwyn Goodall, connecting through the heartbeat and creating unification of driving rhythms.

The program also features:

• “Giordano Moves” (2005), set to an original music score by George McRae, featuring the essence of the classic Giordano technique created by GDC founder Gus Giordano, remounted by Nan Giordano.
• Autumn Eckman’s “commonthread” (2009), performed to an eclectic original music composition by musician Dan Myers.
• “Groove, in formed” (2019) by international dancemaker Peter Chu. This fluid, contemporary full company work explores the rhythmic composition of jazz dance by examining many cultural and social dances that influenced and shaped the art form.
• “SOUL” (2018) by “So You Think You Can Dance” choreographer Ray Leeper. This rousing crowd-pleaser features music by Gladys Knight and the Pips, Al Green and Tina Turner. “The company pulls out all the stops, exalting each other in spectacular lifts, leaps, and general rejoicing” (SeeChicagoDance). This work is dedicated to Chicago philanthropist Candace Jordan.

GDC is an iconic cultural organization and an integral part of Chicago’s vibrant performing arts community. From its origins in founder Gus Giordano’s original school in Evanston, Ill., to its current incarnation as a world-class dance company, GDC boasts over a half-century of worldwide performances (28 countries, 47 states, more than 1,300 cities) with an imprint on the art form of jazz dance that is far-reaching and significant. For 38 years GDC has been under the Artistic Leadership of Nan Giordano who is responsible for commissioning numerous groundbreaking works, the mentoring of hundreds of young dancers and choreographers, and the development of the Nan Giordano Certification Program®. Each Spring, GDC’s “Jazz Dance/Science & Health” program teaches elementary school anatomy and nutrition through a dance-centric program in CPS science classrooms. For more information about GDC, visit giordanodance.org.

The McAninch Arts Center, located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage on Sunday, presents Giordano Dance Chicago 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15. Tickets are $49 – $55. Following the performance, audiences have the opportunity to experience a post-performance disco-inspired dance class. For tickets or additional information, call 630.942.4000 or visit AtTheMAC.org.