WHO ARE WE?
Led by Artistic Director Cam Loeser, COLE JAZZ is a production and dance company dedicated to honoring and continuing the legacy of American Jazz Dance through the lens of one of its earliest pioneers, Jack Cole. Through our national and international performance projects and educational endeavors, we aim to cultivate empowering, equitable, and authentic space for artistic expression, celebrating the historical integrity of Jazz Dance. COLE JAZZ works to bring those who have been historically underrepresented, but whose cultures are intrinsic to the root of Jazz, back to the forefront of the conversation. Our company collaborates with experts in these cultural modalities, including African Choreographer and Educator Angel Kaba, and Bharatanatyam Choreographer and Educator Ramita Ravi, in order to maintain this art form's authenticity and truth.
COLE JAZZ acts as a non-profit through our fiscal sponsor, Theater Now New York; all donations are processed through TNNY and are tax deductible.
We are currently aiming to raise $30,000 to support the development our company, along with exciting educational programs and Jazz-dance based projects for our 2025 season. This includes:
- Jazz Dance Conference West 2025
- West End Opportunities
- Development of The NEW Jack Cole Dancers' training/ community/ workshop programs
- Development for THE CLUB ACT
- West Coast Residency and Tour
- Dance Film of RHAPSODY (Jazz Ballet created in 2024 to Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue')
COLE JAZZ is devoted to supporting those who have been displaced by the fires in LA, especially within the arts community. 5% of your donation will go directly towards the Grief and Hope Campaign, a GoFundMe created by artists to raise money to help LA Artists and Art Workers to start over. This portion of the fundraising will end on March 15th, when their funding period officially closes.
(see: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-rebuild-the-lives-of-las-artists-and-art-workers)
For more information on each tier, read the breakdown below, or visit our Campaign webpage at coledance.com/compaign. We aspire to make all of these programs happen if we can meet our goal!
A special thank you to Jeffrey Hendrix for contributing $500 towards launching this campaign.
WHY DONATE?
As a new company, we rely on the support of our community to continue sharing this important work with the world. Funding for the arts is minimal, and resources for companies like ours are hard to come by, especially in the present economy. Dancers are historically underpaid for their work, affordable studio space is scarce, and artists can no longer afford to experience art. COLE JAZZ aims to break this cycle. We are committed to paying our dancers above minimum wage and offering them consistent work, collaborating with other organizations and trading resources and support, presenting work that is financially accessible, and fostering community programs that offer affordable training opportunities for dancers, specifically to those in underprivileged communities.
By continuing to expose global artists of all ages to this level of authentic training and sharing truthful, accessible Jazz-based work, COLE JAZZ will re-instill validity, inclusion and awareness back to this branch of Jazz Dance. Jazz is a universal dialogue with the power to ignite collaboration, understanding, humanity and unity. In a time when a lot of this is being challenged, investing in the continuation of the arts is vital. We are passionate about sharing empowering, uplifting, diverse and authentic stories with this community and we will not compromise on that. Your contribution creates the opportunity for this legacy to flourish, and for diverse artists across the globe to work, train, grow and thrive.
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP
If you are not able to make a financial contribution at this time, there are still ways you can help to support the company! Get the word out and make some noise by sharing our campaign on your social media, or with friends and family who may want to contribute. Come take class with us, bring along new people who haven't experienced the work, come see our shows - we still want you to be involved!
OUR PLANNED 2025 PROJECTS:
JAZZ DANCE CONFERENCE WEST
Jazz Dance Conference West 2025 will commence for the 4th consecutive year at CSUDH on May 24-25, 2025. JDCW, conceived by Founder/Director Jeff Hendrix, has established an annual tradition of preserving, educating and showcasing Jazz dance in a variety of styles and techniques. Building community amongst diverse populations has been the goal from its origin. Social, theatrical and historical styles of Jazz dances are studied and presented in both traditional and innovative forms. Students on the West Coast have the unique chance to train and perform with a roster of highly regarded professional teachers and Jazz companies domestically.
Artistic Director Cam Loeser and The NEW Jack Cole Dancers have been invited to represent the Jack Cole Legacy at this year's Conference. Alongside other renowned educators in the field, Cam will be teaching for the Conference's education program, and The NEW Jack Cole Dancers will perform rep from the company's ongoing projects. This is an exciting opportunity to bring this work back to California for one of the first times since Jack Cole taught at UCLA before he passed. COLE JAZZ is thrilled to be a part of keeping the historical legacy of Jazz dance alive and accessible to dancers on the West Coast.
(see: https://www.jazzdanceconferencewest.com)
WEST END/ DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
COLE JAZZ is continually developing its dance company, The NEW Jack Cole Dancers, with exciting opportunities in London's West End, as well as here in New York. We are passionate about offering theater/ jazz dancers and musicians consistent work that reflects the financial standard of living in New York City. Our goal is to be able to pay our artists well above minimum wage for company class/ rehearsal/ performances, and to continue generating fresh, dynamic work that can be easily mobilized and presented in numerous venues and productions throughout New York City and abroad. This mission will create more opportunities for our dancers to perform and for diverse audiences to experience the power of this legacy.
COLE JAZZ also strives to bring this training to as many places and artists around the world as possible, and we aim to organize/ attend programs in London, Mexico, LA, Hawaii, Brazil, India, and Tokyo in the near future. In addition, we continue to offer affordable community workshops in New York City that expose dancers to the full spectrum of this art form, including African and Bharatanatyam, as well as historic and contemporary styles of theater and jazz dance. We are also working to collaborate with education programs that support underprivileged and diverse communities, as well as students with disabilities. All donations help us to organize these educational programs, pay our teachers, and expose a wider range of artists of all socio-economic classes and creeds to this important work.
DEVELOPMENT FOR THE CLUB ACT
COLE JAZZ is currently developing an expanded version of THE CLUB ACT, which premiered last June at The Midnight Theater at Hudson Yards to a sold-out audience. The show received a rave response, with many audience members returning more than once. THE CLUB ACT is a provocative, immersive nightclub act reminiscent of Cole's original company of dancers that performed in historical nightclubs throughout the US over 100 years ago. The show transports audiences to a raging supper club in the early 1900s, celebrating the lineage and evolution of Jazz Dance through the lens of Jack Cole's legacy.
The evening begins with Jazz’s roots in African and Indian dance, the cross-pollination of Harlem Social Dance and Afro-Caribbean dance, and ultimately leads to Cole's fusion of these styles into his own unique idiom. The evening is a sultry, burlesque feast, any Jazz enthusiast's caviar, and offers high caliber Jazz dance at a more affordable price than a Broadway show. Continuing to showcase work of this quality in accessible venues throughout New York City is sure to once again change the landscape of American Theater and Jazz Dance. We have plans to develop this production nationally and internationally, including future iterations in London and Tokyo.
WEST COAST RESIDENCY & TOUR
COLE JAZZ is currently devising plans for a Residency on the West Coast to workshop a modular, touring version of THE CLUB ACT. This Residency will kick off a West Coast tour with stops at historic theater and music venues, as well as Universities in Oregon, Washington, and California. In conjunction with the Residency and performances, COLE JAZZ will lead workshops and masterclasses at local studios and collegiate programs, as well as collaborate with other Jazz artists in these areas, in order to offer an integrative experience to the communities we are traveling to. This will be an exciting opportunity to expose new artists and audiences to this work in a personal, more enriching way, enhancing the dance culture on the West Coast and re-affirming a bi-coastal presence for this legacy.
RHAPSODY DANCE FILM
In 2024, Cam Loeser created a Jazz Ballet choreographed to George Gershwin's iconic 'Rhapsody in Blue.' This work was commissioned by Steps on Broadway for their 2024 Conservatory students, and was inspired by Jack Cole's interactions with mob gangs of the early 20th Century; the mobs historically ran the nightclubs that Cole's company often frequented and performed in. This piece sees two opposing gangs in the 1930s fighting over the attention of a scintillating burlesque performer on her smoke break, leading to a full out brawl followed by a grandiose celebration and unification between the groups. In 2025, COLE JAZZ plans to elaborate on this concept, creating a thrilling, high-production dance film shot on the streets of New York City that celebrates this old school, cinematic style of dance.
