Considering Jazz Choreography

Chapter 14 is concerned with the conditions for producing jazz choreography – its support, volume, and literacy. While jazz dance styles have been examined thoroughly, the elements of jazz dance choreography are largely amorphous within dance scholarship and pedagogy. George argues that there are choreographic elements unique to jazz dance and the audiences, venues, and media for which jazz dance choreography is created, adapted, and staged. What are the shared characteristics of jazz choreography among the many jazz dance styles? What are the conditions that contribute to the limited visibility of jazz choreography in the twenty-first century? Why are there fewer jazz choreographers than in years past? George explore these questions to offer insight into the key components of what makes jazz dance choreography wholly unique and separate from ballet and modern dance, forms it is too often measured against.