199 Chambers Street
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NY 10007
Discover a jazz icon: JoJo Smith, the choreographer who gave John Travolta his moves in Saturday Night Fever, and co-founded the studio that became the legendary Broadway Dance Center. See his choreography performed by Jazz Roots Dance Company, under the direction of Sue Samuels.
A veteran Broadway dancer, JoJo Smith became an influential teacher and choreographer, and helped define disco in Hollywood films. He was a go-to coach in the 1970s, working with stars Barbra Streisand, Debbie Allen, Joey Heatherton and more. With Sue Samuels, Smith founded JoJo’s Dance Factory, which became a major studio and training hub, and is known today as Broadway Dance Center.
Photos Courtesy of the JoJo Smith Legacy Project
Jazz Roots Dance Company is dedicated to the preservation of the classic jazz dance form, and aims to entertain and educate all generations about the roots of classic jazz dance. The Jazz Roots Dance Company Company premiered its first full length production “Jazz on the West Side” in 2014. Other performances include New York City Center’s Career Transitions for Dancers 30th Anniversary Pearl Jubilee and Dumbo Dance Festival, where Jazz Roots performed “Down into Muddy Water” in the classic jazz style of Matt Mattox.
The Jazz Roots Dance residency at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center is part of the CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI), which receives major support from The Mertz Gilmore Foundation and Howard Gilman Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Jerome Robbins Foundation, SHS Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. CDI is part of Dance/NYC’s New York City Dance Rehearsal Space Subsidy Program, made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. CDI is spearheaded by The Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College. www.cuny.edu/danceinitiative.
