Hanya Holm’s ideology, as well as her movement quality, is woven throughout Gus Giordano’s career and his approach to movement. Giordano successfully established a technique that, like Holm’s approach, took advantage of other dance techniques, such as ballet and modern, and morphed components of each into a new art form (Sabo, Made in America 44). Not only did Gus use others’ techniques, but he also anticipated the manipulation of his own technique to fit into his students’ personal style. Giordano’s jazz technique, though codified, is part of a changing tradition. Gus desired jazz to be of its time by constantly being influenced by music and people. This principle of constant change honors Holm’s use of improvisation and space, elements that
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In doing so, Alford is honoring Gus Giordano, and consequently Hanya Holm, by developing his own approach to jazz dance. I would describe Marcus’s style using several adjectives, such as strong and grounded, that also describe Gus’s quality, but there exists many attributes within Alford’s approach that are distinctly his. I grew up learning how to execute a proper Giordano jazz hand, perform finger isolations, and jazz run across the floor, and I can thank Marcus for passing down those Giordano traits to me. I can also perform multiple head rolls while doing just about anything, and I have mastered sliding on the floor in any position (including penguin slides). I grant Marcus ownership of both of these skills, and just as I will pass down the tradition of Giordano’s technique, I will also spread Marcus’s technique in my own way.
The transmission of philosophies, practices, and qualities within dance are often hard to observe, but when ample amount of time is spent diving into the lineage of one person, these characteristics are easily extracted. Now that I have spent hours learning, not only through my research, but also through personal experiences, I can identify tendencies within me that relate myself to Hanya Holm, Gus Giordano, and, of course, Marcus Alford. I can only hope that I will be just as influential to those I encounter throughout my career as my dance predecessors have been to
In doing so, Alford is honoring Gus Giordano, and consequently Hanya Holm, by developing his own approach to jazz dance. I would describe Marcus’s style using several adjectives, such as strong and grounded, that also describe Gus’s quality, but there exists many attributes within Alford’s approach that are distinctly his. I grew up learning how to execute a proper Giordano jazz hand, perform finger isolations, and jazz run across the floor, and I can thank Marcus for passing down those Giordano traits to me. I can also perform multiple head rolls while doing just about anything, and I have mastered sliding on the floor in any position (including penguin slides). I grant Marcus ownership of both of these skills, and just as I will pass down the tradition of Giordano’s technique, I will also spread Marcus’s technique in my own way.
The transmission of philosophies, practices, and qualities within dance are often hard to observe, but when ample amount of time is spent diving into the lineage of one person, these characteristics are easily extracted. Now that I have spent hours learning, not only through my research, but also through personal experiences, I can identify tendencies within me that relate myself to Hanya Holm, Gus Giordano, and, of course, Marcus Alford. I can only hope that I will be just as influential to those I encounter throughout my career as my dance predecessors have been to