Jump Rhythm Jazz Project

Specialties

Jump Rhythm Jazz Project is a not-​for-​profit arts organization founded in 1990 whose mission is both to honor and innovate the art of jazz-​based American rhythm dancing, and to celebrate the joys of shared rhythm-​making in dance, music and song among individuals of diverse ages, backgrounds and cultures. The company continues to pursue this mission by offering a comprehensive program of performances in conjunction with demonstrations, classes and workshops that affirm both the artistic and community-​bonding values of rhythmic expression.

History

Established in 1990.

Jump Rhythm Jazz Project is a multiple-Emmy®-Award-winning, Chicago-​based performance and teaching company founded by Billy Siegenfeld in 1990 in New York City. There, with his associate artistic director and performing partner Jeannie Hill, he created Romance in Swingtime — an evening-​length narrative of rhythm-​driven song-​and-​dance duets choreographed and vocally arranged to standards of the 20s, 30s, and 40s accompanied live by a jazz quartet. This chamber jazz musical was performed to critical acclaim before audiences in New York and on tour nationally. One stop was Evanston, Illinois where the duo performed two selections from Romance at the first Jazz Dance World Congress and Billy delivered a paper titled «If Jazz Dance, Then Jazz Music.» These events led to his being invited by Northwestern to join its theatre and dance faculty. After re-​locating to Chicago, he began expanding JRJP into an ensemble of performer-​teachers with whom he could continue making dances.

Meet the Business Owner

Billy S.

Business Owner

Billy Siegenfeld is the founder, artistic director, principal choreographer, vocal arranger, and ensemble performing member of jump Rhythm Jazz Project, a national– and international-​touring dance company that celebrates the fusion of rhythmically percussive body-​music and emotion-​driven dance theatre. He is the creator of the system of rhythm-​generated movement-​and-​voice training for dancers, actors, and singers called Jump Rhythm® Technique. He is also the creator of the movement-​efficient, injury-​preventive method of aligning and moving the human body called Standing Down Straight®. The magazine Dance Teacher placed him on its «Twentieth Century Timeline of Choreographers and Innovators» for founding JRJP and creating the choreography based on the principles of Jump Rhythm® Technique. In regard to the latter, the magazine Dancer credited him with «inventing the first genuine jazz technique in forty years.»

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