Expectations are always high when attending certain performances and Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC) easily counts in that number. Far beyond the city on the lake, the company stands at a pinnacle. Performing a type of dance that marries African and European dance traditions to rhythm, they are now exporting their renowned brand across the globe. GDC sweetens the pot by adding something of the very own; the Giordano technique which fuses sophistication, elegance and poise to jazz dance.
The company’s Saturday night show at the Auditorium Theater was a like a celebration among friends commemorating longevity, excellence and legacy. The one night only show marks the company’s 55th year of existence and the 33rd year since Nan Giordano has been steering the ship as Artistic Director. Dance and praise filled a program that in the end was a reminder of where dedication to purpose can take you. And It showed how a vision of a father can be nurtured by a daughter to grow a thriving world acclaimed dance company.
Intended to showcase the breadth of the company’s dancing abilities within the jazz dance form, the dance portion of the evening enveloped the conceptual and the fanciful, the spiritual and the funky; all united by GDC’s unique portrayal of precision and grace.
Opening strong with Giordano Moves, a work created by Gus Giordano three years before he passed away in 2008; and reconstructed in 2017, dancers rode the rhythms of hot jazz horns to revel in the founders “classic style of jazz dance”. In collaboration with Jon Lehrer, Nan Giordano reworked the piece as a tribute to her father which features attributes emblematic of his touch and approach. The audience was left to simply luxuriate in the sheer artistry of the dancers as they profiled the company’s impeccable unison timing and exquisite technical refinement.
Another founder created piece was also featured later that night. This work is much older and a departure from the glistening slick polish you associate with Giordano Dance Chicago. Developed in 1978, Wings is a journey into the spiritual self and features live vocals on stage. A nine member acapella gospel group consisting of a mother and her adult offspring, the Bourné family were the evening’s guest vocalists. Singing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot so softly it seemed hushed, their music was the palette used for dancer Cesar Salinas’ solo turn. Salinas, who once was member of the GDC company and now teaches master classes with dance schools across the country, is an exemplary performer and magnificently demonstrated the power of one. Expressing through dance the release of the body from the cares of the world and the ascent into the divine, every movement was studied grace tied to spellbinding execution. The standing ovation that immediately followed recognized how dance and song can come together to achieve perfection.
Take a Gambol, created just this year by Joshua Blake Carter shows what can happen when a former dancer finds and is allowed to follow his choreographic muse. Carter, now the company’s Operations Manager and Director of the company’s dance incubator, Giordano II, created a sly and playful vehicle to spotlight the dance chops of GDC’s male contingent.
Adding drama to the piece, the eight dancers enter behind the audience from the two center aisles in an unhurried jazz stroll to converge briefly in a single Chippendale style line. Then they let their feet do the talking. All of the classic elements of jazz dance were there, the close synchronization, the tight body control, the virtuoso spins that shriek phenomenal athleticism. Overlay intangibles like wry cool and playful bluster and you’ve got the formula for sophisticated fun.
Gambol contrasted wildly from what was to follow, Ray Mercer’s futuristic feeling Tossed Around; where yellow chairs figure prominently. All about timing and tension, a thunderous score heightens suspense and intensifies a sense of combat. Sometimes moving almost mechanically like automatons, the dancers literally push each other to higher levels of dance perfection. Ashley Downs and Adam Houston’s duet in the work’s mid-section proved once again flawless synchronization is possible and allows you to marvel at the capacity of the human body to create absolute harmony through the physics of movement.
When professionals dance suggestively, you can bet it’s going to get very steamy. And that’s exactly what happens in Feelin’ Good Sweet, where class still trumped seduction. Michael Buble’s interpretation of Feelin’ Good is stuffed with innuendo and served as the catalyst for dance mischief. Guys in black T’s and midnight fedoras, with the ladies working it in striped bustiers, the piece gave plenty of opportunity for company dancers to show their mettle while it seamlessly wove frolic into amorous intrigue.
But it was the show’s finale that pulled out all the stops. Choreographed by Christopher Huggins in 2007, there’s an enduring freshness to Pyrokinesis. Much of it comes the dance’s sheer energy. The works title translates to the ability to create and control fire through the mind. Giordano Dance Chicago’s version controls it through their feet. Building from the initial strains of reflective piano, it quickly flips to pure vibrant motion and displays of phenomenal skill; the kind that raises goosebumps. Once red shoes replace black ones, the whole stage turns to dance fire. The fluidity of contemporary dance, the endurance of ballet, and the rhythmic sensitivities of jazz come together to create a rare kind of bounty. A crowd pleaser since its introduction 11 years ago, Pyrokinesis feels like a celebration and a fitting close to a night honoring the astonishing realization of one man’s vision.
