Jazz Dance at its Finest Landing Soon on Chicago’s North Shore

From the look of Giordano Dance Chicago’s (GDC) upcoming program, Ignite the Soul, at Skokie’s North Shore Center for the Performing Arts on the October 18 & 19, they’ll be entering their fall season hot. The country’s original jazz dance company, who’ve proven themselves more than adept at beautifully performing a huge range of dance styles, will be zeroing in on their core genre: Jazz dance and the full spectrum of its many variations. This approach, according to the company’s Artistic Director, Nan Giordano, best allows them to do what they do so peerlessly, “ignite the soul” through dance.

Simon Schuh and Erina Ueda (photo by Todd Rosenberg)

From its inception, when Ms. Giordano’s father Gus created GDC 63 years ago, the company’s striven to do much more than render world class entertainment through movement. As is true for much of the arts, artists hope to make a connection that extends beyond providing evidence of their prodigious technical skills. They want their work to penetrate to our feelings, and in the case of Giordano Dance Chicago, add much needed vibrancy and extremely valuable energy to our lives. That desire is “in the company’s bloodline”, and the roster of dances lined up for the Fall Engagement promise to deliver voluminously.

Opening with a classic choreographed by Gus Giordano in 1983, a trio of dancers will likely make the roof quiver and the floor quake as they tear through Benny Goodman’s back-in-the-day megahit, and still smokin’, Sing, Sing, Sing.

GDC Dancers in Gershwin in B (photo by Anderson Photography)

Last year, when it premiered at the Harris downtown, Al Blackstone’s Gershwin in B left the audience bewitched and swooning. These days, it’s not surprising to see art forms merging to create brand new experiences. Rarely though do you see it done this well and with this much style. A full company work that dreamily glides atop a magnificent George Gershwin score, Gershwin in B weaves theater and dance together to create a mesmerizing story with a heroine who sizzles.

GDC Dancers in Gershwin in B (photo by Anderson Photography)

Energy of a different vibe will pour from another full company piece, this time exuding vibrant Latin American inspirations. Flowing from the imagination of Liz Imperio, a choreographer who’s worked with megastars like J Lo, Cher, Gloria Estefan and Madonna, La Belleza de Cuba uses a wide assortment of music to help stimulate the senses. All of them joyous.

The dance she composed also springs from a variety of sources. Jazz technique, Latin, Afro-Cuban and contemporary dance elements have been combined to soak the stage with infectious vitality and exuberance since Imperio conceived and created it in 2013.

Modulating the tone slightly, 333 and a new work by Giordano dancer Simon Schuh, Interlinked, will offer a slight shift in tone as well as opportunities for reflection. The first — created by Nan Giordano and Associate Artistic Director Cesar Silanas for company dancer Erina Ueda — highlights the gifts of an exceptional artist. Premiering last year, 333 is the type of solo sensation that inspires and dazzles in equal measure.

333, solo for Erina Ueda (photo by Anderson Photography)

Interlinked may be one of those sleepers that steals the show. Schuh initially developed it for four dancers in Giordano’s second company, Giordano II (GII). Spotted by a representative connected with Chicago Live! at Navy Pier, it was expanded to six dancers and received its world premiere at the Navy Pier festival last month. The audience response couldn’t have been more appreciative.

Adam Houston in Ray Leeper's Red and Black (photo by Todd Rosenberg)

When describing his work, Mr. Schuh has written he sees it as portraying the “woven connection we experience as people going through everyday life. [The] piece, on a physical level, relates to the athleticism and risk needed to promote rawness and vulnerability through intense motion.” A thrilling and portentous introduction. Interlinked will be featured for the first time by the main company, Giordano Dance Chicago, during the North Shore engagement.

GDC Dancers in Ray Leeper's Red and Black (photo by Todd Rosenberg)

Completing the program will be the sultry scorcher, Red and Black. Choreographed by Ray Leeper, best known these days for his association with So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars. A jazz dance phenomenon, Red and Black reflects Leeper’s instinctual feel for the dance form while showcasing the unrivaled ability of GDC dancers to “ignite the soul”.

Ignite the Soul
Giordano Dance Chicago
North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie
October 18, 2025, at 7:30
October 19, 2025, at 2
for tickets, visit GDC