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Gus Giordano

Gus Giordano wrote the highly acclaimed Anthology of American Jazz Dance , the first book of its kind. Giordano organized the first Jazz Dance World Congress in August 1990.

This event, co-sponsored by Northwestern University, assembled jazz dance greats such as Luigi, Matt Mattox, and Giordano and numerous jazz dance companies for a week of master classes and performances. Now an annual event, the Congress has been held at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., at Northwestern University and University at Buffalo, in Phoenix, Chicago, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Costa Rica, and in August of 2005 returned to Chicago.

Gus Giordano was the recipient of the 1984 Dance Educators of America Award for his “outstanding contribution to the world of jazz dance.” Additional honors include the 1988 Mayor’s Award for the Arts (Evanston, Illinois), the 1989 Governor’s Award for the Arts for exemplary individual artistic achievement, the 1991 Dance Teacher Now “Circle Award” for lifetime contributions to dance education, the 1993 Ruth Page Lifetime Service to the Field Award (presented to Gus and his late wife Peg); and in 1996 from the University of Missouri the “Distinguished Alumni Award” and the “William Francis English Scholar-in-Residence Award.”

In 1985, Governor James Thompson declared April 25 “Gus Giordano Day” in appreciation of “his immense contribution to the cultural environment of the State of Illinois.” In 1995 he received the “Honorable Artist Award” from Chukyo University in Nagoya, Japan.

In 1997 Gus served as National Spokesperson for National Dance Week. In 1999, Gus received the Third Annual Katherine Dunham Award for “excellence and great contributions to the Arts,” and in 2003, Chicago’s Mayor Daley presented Gus with the Chicago Senior of the Year Award.

In 2005 the National Dance Association presented Gus with its Heritage Award, and the same year Gus received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree from Shenandoah University.

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201

Obituary

Gus Giordano, 84, Innovator of Modern Jazz Dance, is Dead

Gus Giordano, 84, Innovator of Modern Jazz Dance, is Dead

Source: Michael Ricci

Gus Giordano, an early and tireless popularizer of American jazz dance who organized the first Jazz Dance World Congress, died on March 9 in Chicago. He was 84. The cause was pneumonia, according to his daughters, Nan and Amy Giordano. Mr. Giordano was best known through the performing of his company, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, founded in 1962 and based in Evanston, and through his teaching at dance conventions throughout the United States. The company, now directed by Nan Giordano, ...

107

Obituary

Gus Giordano, Dancer Innovator, Emmy Winner, Broadway Performer, Dies at 84

Gus Giordano, Dancer Innovator, Emmy Winner, Broadway Performer, Dies at 84

Source: All About Jazz

Gus Giordano not only launched his own popular, Evanston-based troupe, but he's one of the originators of the stylistic innovation now known worldwide as jazz dance. The venerable dancer, teacher, choreographer and author -- a gigantic figure in Chicago's dance community for more than half a century -- died early Sunday after a lengthy illness. He was 84. Giordano's many accomplishments include the beginning of the Jazz Dance World Congress, an international convention that regularly brings together troupes from all ...

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