Rooted Jazz Dance: Africanist Aesthetics and Equity in the Twenty-First Century

Rooted Jazz Dance brings together jazz dance scholars, practitioners, choreographers, and educators from across the United States and Canada with the goal of changing the course of practice in future generations. Contributors delve into the Africanist elements within jazz dance and discuss the role of Whiteness, including Eurocentric technique and ideology, in marginalizing African American vernacular dance, which has resulted in the prominence of Eurocentric jazz styles and the systemic erosion of the roots.

Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches

Featuring discussions of such dancers and choreographers as Bob Fosse and Katherine Dunham, as well as analyses of how the form’s vocabulary differs from ballet, this complex and compelling history captures the very essence of jazz dance.

Jazz Is... Dance Project

JAZZ IS… DANCE PROJECT is dedicated to the dissemination of jazz dance education, choreography, performance, and scholarship. Founded in 2012, Jazz Is… Dance Project seeks to widen the palette and visibility of jazz dance beyond the most immediate and contemporary forms and venues. Inspired by the democratic nature of jazz music, a uniquely American art form, Jazz Is… Dance Project values improvisation, stylization, and humanity in jazz dance, honoring the roots and fruits of jazz in the classroom, in the studio, and on stage.

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