Rooting Studio Jazz Practise

3:15 - 4:45 pm

Conversations surrounding historical perspectives in jazz dance along with the push to decolonize jazz dance pedagogy have seen an amplification since 2020. The unearthing of the origins and history of the form has many educators faced with the realization that what they have been teaching can not be considered a responsible or accurate representation of jazz dance. This session serves as an entry point for educators who, to varying degrees, understand the authentic origins of jazz dance including all that Black Americans have contributed to its genesis and evolution, yet lack the tools to embrace and embody this information into their curricula beyond discussion and lecture based learning.

After dancing and touring nationally with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD) for 7 seasons, Joanne moved into several administrative support roles for the organization including Artistic Assistant, Arts in Education Coordinator, Dance School Principal, and most recently, Artistic Outreach Associate. Teaching and sharing her love of jazz dance has been an integral part of Joanne’s 30-year career. Inspired by her mentors of the DJD style and philosophy along with countless jazz artists from the vast history of jazz dance, she has traveled across Canada conducting workshops and intensives in Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Yellowknife, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax. Before moving to the GTA in 2020, Joanne was a regular teacher for DJD’s professional company and its professional training program and coordinated and taught at several jazz intensive workshops bringing together dancers from across Canada and the United States. Joanne has taught several sessions as a guest instructor at the University of Calgary and taught children, teens, and adults at the School of Decidedly Jazz along with many dance studios around Calgary. She has presented at the World Dance Alliance America’s Annual Conference (2012) in Vancouver, BC, the NDEO Special Topics (Jazz Dance) Conference (2019) in Newport, Rhode Island, and the NDEO National Conference (2022) in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently living east of Toronto, Ontario, Joanne has been leading workshops and master classes for the Toronto community and recently was a guest faculty member at Toronto Metropolitan University.

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