Margarita
& Family of Jazz

Jazz: Lineage and Evolution

By Bonnie Kim
 

Jazz means different things to different people. Maybe music. Maybe dance. Maybe both. Some may think of music legends like Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald or, perhaps, Broadway star dancer/choreographer Bob Fosse and his signature jazz hands. Some folks love and revere jazz, while others may not quite get it.

For Fall for Dance North’s artists-in-residence Kimberley Cooper (artistic director and principal choreographer of Calgary’s Decidedly Jazz Danceworks) and Natasha Powell (founding artistic director of Toronto’s Holla Jazz), their reverence for the origins of jazz music and, specifically, jazz dance is deep and undeniable. 

Traced back to West African traditions and African American communities, jazz music and dance are seamlessly intertwined, sharing characteristics like polyrhythms (layers of contrasting rhythms), syncopation (interruption of regular rhythms), improvisation, groove and nuance, among others.

“Music and dance were already deeply connected in the Black community,” Powell says, of those who were enslaved in the West. “So, jazz musicians were inspired by dancers, and dancers were inspired by musicians. This exchange and connection are a continuum of the African tradition.”

Calling herself a “double guest in the form,” Cooper says, “As a white Canadian, I strive to dance and create with respect and reverence for the people who made jazz what it is … In my experience, jazz dance is hugely misunderstood. Many ‘jazz’ dancers I have met have no knowledge of its history or roots, and most don’t even dance to jazz music.”

Powell’s relationship with jazz dance was renewed in 2009 after seeing the documentary Everything Remains Raw by her mentor Moncell Durden. Featuring the history and lineage of African American social dance practices from the early 1900s to the present, it didn’t look at all like the Eurocentric approach to jazz dance she learned as a child, which emphasized ballet technique. 

“The social aspect of the dance tradition reminds me of basement parties with my family,” Powell says. “The only thing that matters in those moments are the people in the room and the music. They come with their own stories and unique experiences … I truly value that sense of connection to the people and music in this art form.”

Referring to Decidedly Jazz Danceworks’ founders – Vicki Adams Willis, Hannah Stillwell and Michèle Moss – Cooper says, “They found that the jazz they were seeing and experiencing had completely lost any connection to its African roots and to jazz music.” So, in 1984, they formed the company to promote, explore and, inevitably, evolve jazz.

“Jazz is such a rich form, I’m compelled to keep digging,” says Cooper, who joined Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in 1989 at age 18. Though her most constant and consistent collaborators are jazz musicians and dancers, she has also collaborated with visual and theatre artists as well as puppeteers. “My lens is constantly changing and evolving,” she says, “because I’m constantly changing and evolving. I’ve had a career in jazz dance for over three decades. I hope it lasts three more.”

Cooper and Powell may have different stories about how they came to jazz dance, or how it came to them. But they share a respect for the form’s past and a curiosity about its future. They get it – and through their ongoing work, they invite others in to explore and enjoy the richness of jazz.

At this time, audience members will not be required to show proof of vaccination at Toronto Metropolitan University Theatre (formerly Ryerson Theatre), however any changes to public health regulations may affect these policies and will be communicated to ticket buyers.

Audience members are strongly encouraged to wear a mask for indoor programming and should be worn until seated in designated areas or when leaving their designated area to use the washroom or other areas of the venue.

All staff, artists, crew and volunteers will be masked during activity and while interacting with audience members.