Fame or Famine » jazz dance http://www.fameorfamine.com The Performing Arts Blog Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:27:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 The Show Goes On: Giordano Dance “High Flying” in Chicago http://www.fameorfamine.com/2008/03/the-show-goes-on-giordano-dance-high-flying-in-chicago/ http://www.fameorfamine.com/2008/03/the-show-goes-on-giordano-dance-high-flying-in-chicago/#comments Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:10:56 +0000 http://www.fameorfamine.com/2008/03/11/the-show-goes-on-giordano-dance-high-flying-in-chicago/ Post from: Fame or Famine

]]> Just a note of admiration: in spite of what must have been crushing news (their founder, Gus Giordano, died on Sunday) the Giordano Dance troupe got rave reviews from Hedy Weiss in the Chicago Sun-Times. It’s a tribute to the professionalism of the performers and the ethics he instilled in them that they kick off a five week tour of Hawaii with such a stellar performance. Even the one sour note in the review, Davis Robertson’s premiere of “Moanin Low” didn’t change her opinion: “…the company is in high-flying form.”

Incidentally, for those So You Think You Can Dance fans: number one on the evening’s ticket was a piece called “Le Grand Futur is Here!” choreographed by our favorite judge Mia Michaels. It was described as “enormously tricky and difficult”; why am I not surprised?

This is the promotional video they put out for this particular performance; not sure if parts of it are showing Mia’s work or not, but it certainly gets the blood moving anyway:

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]]> http://www.fameorfamine.com/2008/03/the-show-goes-on-giordano-dance-high-flying-in-chicago/feed/ 0 R.I.P. Gus Giordano http://www.fameorfamine.com/2008/03/rip-gus-giordano/ http://www.fameorfamine.com/2008/03/rip-gus-giordano/#comments Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:01:53 +0000 http://www.fameorfamine.com/2008/03/10/rip-gus-giordano/ Post from: Fame or Famine

]]> Dancer, Choreographer, Former U.S. Marine, and founder of the Giordano Dance Company of Chicago died yesterday morning of pneumonia. He was 84. One of the great pioneers of jazz dance in this country, he studied with Hanya Holm, Katherine Dunham and Alwin Nikolais, as well as appearing on Broadway in Wish You Were Here and Paint Your Wagon.

Semper Fi, Gus, and thank you.

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