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OPDI-M12: Jazz Dance Theory and Practice
June 22, 2026 - August 02, 2026
This course traces the continuum of jazz dance from its roots to its many manifestations today. You will explore your own jazz dance identity through a process of examining historical jazz eras and styles (authentic, vernacular, theatrical, and contemporary) and by engaging in reflection, choreographic explorations, and dialogue with classmates. Additional course components include reading, video viewing and analysis, and writing assignments that will allow you to focus your understanding of jazz dance. Whether you teach in a privately-owned dance studio, in K-12, or in higher education, this course will also offer you the opportunity to practice a historically-rooted approach for teaching jazz dance that is relevant today in contemporary jazz dance practices. By applying essential jazz dance characteristics that are derived from the origins of jazz but are often forgotten in dance studios today, you will be able to integrate a rich understanding of jazz dance to classroom exercises that are already in your tool box. Feedback from classmates and instructor will open the doors to a dialogue where, as a community, we can share successes and challenges. You will leave this course with a series of class exercises that can be explored and integrated into regular studio classes.
Please note that audit students will not be receiving personal feedback or grades on the assignments they turn in.
Book required: Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches by Lindsay Guarino and Wendy Oliver. (2014). Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida. Available on Amazon
Agenda
Speakers
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Pat Taylor
<p>Pat Taylor is the artistic director/choreographer of Los Angeles-based Jazz Antiqua Dance & Music Ensemble, founded in 1993 to celebrate jazz as a vital thread in the cultural fabric of African American history and heritage, and a defining element of the American experience. She holds an MFA in interdisciplinary arts (with a jazz aesthetics emphasis) from Goddard College, and is a frequent artist in residence across the United States and internationally.</p>
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JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble |
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