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Sue Samuels and Jo Jo Smith - The Beginnings of the Smith/Samuels Technique and Broadway Dance Center |
Find a long-time jazz teacher, scratch the surface, and you’ll most likely find a treasure of valid historical information on the development of jazz dance. That’s what I recently did as I made a connection with Sue Samuels, who has been a fixture teaching jazz dance at Broadway Dance Center, the Ailey School, and Manhattan Motion Dance Studios in NY for more than thirty years. But her roots in NYC jazz go even deeper, as her exposure to jazz dance dates back to the dawn of the 1970s and her association with the noted teacher Jo Jo Smith. Smith was a powerful jazz/latin dancer who mixed jazz with martial arts movements. He choreographed for stage and film, including Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta. He also is significant for founding his own studio in the 1960s - Jo Jo's Dance Factory. This studio morphed through various incarnations and eventually became the legendary Broadway Dance Center. My inquiry into the Smith-Samuels technique uncovered a long lost interview of the two from 1970 where Smith explains and demonstrates his martial arts approach, and Smith shows a latin inspired phrase. I was able to persuade Samuels to post the video on YouTube for general viewing and a link to that video is provided at the end of this interview, along with links to Samuels personal website, and ways to order DVDs of her classwork.
But for now, here is the story of the technique of Jo Jo Smith and Sue Samuels, and the history of Broadway Dance Center. 1- Sue, what year did you come to NYC and who were the teachers you were studying with? I came to New York in 1968 to follow my dream of performing on Broadway. The teachers I studied with at that time were: Ballet with Madam Swoboda, at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and Jazz with Jo Jo Smith. 2 - How did you come to meet Jo Jo Smith, and how did you begin to work together on Jo Jo's Dance Factory? I was working in many shows with George Reich, traveling around the world. I only had Ballet and Tap training at the time. My friend told me that Jazz training would be good for me and he recommended Jo Jo's classes. I began to attend classes regularly. Even though the jazz style was very different from my ballet training, I loved how the style was "clean". The positions were strong and required my ballet technique to execute the jazz movements. I'm a little embarrassed to say that Jo Jo had an eye for me, and that I became infatuated with his "charm." I fell in love with him. I was committed to him and his style of jazz. After a year or so, I began to teach his beginner level classes. I had prior teaching experience from my ballet company days in Florida. I became the "lead" dancer for Jo Jo's dance company and I also made all of the costumes for the company. I became an assistant to Jo Jo for the company repertory. I had good ideas for staging and he would come up with the steps; we were a team. We also have two children together. My daughter, Elka Samuels Smith, has a management company for performing artists called Divine Rhythm Productions. My son, Jason Samuels Smith, is an Emmy Award winning tap dancer and choreographer. I also have a wonderful dancing granddaughter, Kaia, who is 5 years old. We found a place to rent on the west side on 50th street between 11th-12th avenues. It was an old factory building that inspired the name for Jo Jo's Dance Factory. There was no heat in the winter and I remember having to put up plastic over the windows in the winter to keep the studios warm. The "diehard's" came. Back in those days, the area was not much more than factories and a couple of diners. After the company was hired to perform with Johnny Halliday in Paris, we were able to invest in a bigger place on Broadway and 55th street. After one year of being there, we received a notice from the landlord that they would be demolishing the building. We went looking for a new place close by and there was a landlord right on the next block at 1733 Broadway who felt intrigued about having a dance studio in his building. He was really helpful in the transition because we no longer had the same funds to invest the way we had at the other place. We did all the work ourselves laying down the floors. We worked really hard to get one studio up and running just to help generate income. Slowly we were able to build up to 4 studios, with a reception area, changing rooms w/showers, and an organic health food juice bar that was run by my sister Judy called Josue's juice bar. We wanted to expose the dancers to healthy food options right on the premises. The smell of whatever my sister was cooking on location would pass through the rooms while we were dancing and as soon as the classes were finished the dancers would run over to the juice bar to see what it was. At some point the movie "The Fan" with Lauren Bacall was shot at the studio. Also, we rehearsed for Saturday Night Fever and most of the dancers that were in the film were all from the studio. Slowly, the dance business started changing. At this time all the teachers had their own studios but the real estate begin to ris e and the teachers couldn't afford to maintain their own places any longer. I was walking in the street and saw Frank Hatchett walking toward me with a gloomy look on his face. He told me that the studio he and Henry LeTang had been renting was no longer available and he had no place to teach his large group of students for his next class. I said that I had an idea, just wait right here. I went upstairs where Jo Jo was and I convinced Jo Jo to let Frank rent space from us. That was unheard of in that time for teachers to share the same space, especially competing jazz styles. With some hesitation, Jo Jo agreed to let Frank come and teach his classes at our studio. That was just the beginning of a new era in dance studios in New York. After that, Trutti Gasparinetti, came to teach Ballet, Judy Bassing came to teach tap, Serena taught belly dance, and there were several other teachers who also came to rent space. This started to create an environment where dancers could come for all their dance needs under one roof. What developed was almost unintentional, but it sparked a trend in the way major New York City dance studios are today. With all of the growing business, it became bigger than what Jo Jo and I felt we could handle and Frank offered to take over with the Hines brothers (Gregory and Maurice) as partners, called the Hatchett Hines Performing Arts Center. The same thing happened to them where the business needs were just to great to be able to handle and maintain careers as artists, but little did we know, that an older man that was taking our beginner level classes named Richard Ellner would be the man for the job. He was a business man who loved to take class and he was able to take over for Frank and grown the business while maintaining the integrity and joy of dance. The studio was really named 'The Rhythm of Life" which was based off of one of the numbers in the Broadway Musical "Sweet Charity," but it became known worldwide as Broadway Dance Center. 
3 - Please try to describe the technique you both developed, in its earliest version, and how it evolved to what you are teaching today?
Jo Jo had an existing jazz style when I met him. Jo Jo lacked in "classical" training and got a lot of his "lines" from his Karate training. When I became so involved, he saw his work done with a "classical" flair. His "jazz barre" was rough because of the order and execution of movements which did not allow enough warm-up for the muscles. Jo Jo appreciated my classical training and listened to my suggestions of changing the order of many of the barre exercises as well as transitions into the movements for a better flow overall. Also, the way I performed the movements inspired him to do choreography specifically for women. 4 - What are the particular "jazz" qualities that you try to bring out in your work? The qualities that I emphasize in my work include clean, controlled lines that help to create strong visual statements. One of the most important elements is "musicality", where the movements allow the dancer to actually "sing the music with their body" while doing the choreography. I believe that jazz dance originally consisted of many facets including Latin, Lyrical, Funky, Swing, Theatre and Classical jazz moves and I like to include them all in my classes and my body of work. 5 - What are the reasons for your long-term success in NYC as a jazz dance teacher? I feel that I have lasted so long in NYC because I take my time in class to actually teach the student as an individual. I am not just dancing in front of them. I explain to them the energy of the movements and how to find the flow. I also take time to make sure they are clean from one movement to the next without becoming "stiff." I teach the "mind-body" connection and the different techniques of "picking up" the choreography. My classes attract a diverse body of students. Many of my students train for broadway and professional careers, but th ere are also several students who dance for fun and/or health benefits. 6 - What obstacles do you feel have hindered jazz dance in its development? What factors are helping to push it forward in its evolution? I'm not really sure that there are any obstacles hindering the development of jazz dance. Dance in general has been undergoing change for some time now. There are more jazz teachers than ever before. With the different jazz teacher comes a different style. Jazz has changed in so many ways. In the past, jazz dance styles were recognizable. You were able to identify the work just from watching the choreography. These days, jazz styles are very similar to each other, many being "lyrical" in nature. In the past, we did many genres of movements in the class. Latin, funky, lyrical, and theatrical besides jazzy. Most upcoming teachers don't offer different genres within the same class. If you want Latin, you must attend a Latin class. If you want theater, you must attend a theater class and so on. I think that all of the dance shows on television is helping to expose more about the field, and making more people want to dance just for the fun of it. 7 - Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future evolution of jazz dance? I am optimistic! Dance is alive and evolving. I am excited to see all the new aspects being included in dance these days. 8 - What are your plans for your continued work in jazz dance - any new projects or directions? I plan to continue to teach at Broadway Dance Center, Alvin Ailey and Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. I feel that training the student either for a performing career, or just for the fun and exercise is important, plus, I still love to dance myself! I also want to create more of a performing venue for the "casual" student by creating student showcase choreography opportunities. I would also like to begin rehearsals for the professional dancer by creating a dance company. I have a large repertory which is entertaining and exciting. I have written a musical play for Broadway together with my partner Jorge Barreiro. We have a wonderful script, and GREAT music. The show is for tap and hip hop styles of dance. Bringing together these two styles of dance for Broadway should be something different and very NOW. 9 - Where can people order your technique video and music? My Jazz Dance Warm-up includes barre exercises, floor exercises, and isolations for an "at home" class experience. Also, it is for the teacher looking for a warm-up which include s technique. The DVD can be ordered online at: www.divinerhythmproductions.com, or by sending me an e-mail to susamjaz@aol.com. Link to Sue Samuels page at Divinerhythmproductions. Link to Jo Jo Smith's MySpace Profile Page Link to YouTube interview with Jo Jo Smith and Sue Samuels, courtesy of Sue Samuels Reproduction in any form is not permitted without prior permission from the copyright holder. |