Mr. Freestyle.Thanks for the DANCE MAGAZINE article on Matt Mattox Matt Mattox (b. August 18, 1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is a jazz and ballet dancer. Mattox was a protegé of the legendary jazz dance pioneer Jack Cole, with whom he worked on Broadway in Magdalena (1948). (August 2003), one of the most influential figures in American jazz dancing. He is truly an unsung hero, particularly here in the United States. After his career in films, and then in NYC NYC abbr. New York City NYC New York City as a leacher and choreographer, he moved to London in 1975, where he made the same gigantic impact on European jazz dance as he did in America. On a worldwide basis, Matt Mattox is one of the most dominant figures in jazz -related dance. He does not call his movement jazz dance, but rather, freestyle. His movement and technique transcend jazz dance, and is one of the first instances of a coming together of all dance forms--ballet, jazz, tap, modern, and ethnic. His movement is highly influenced by Jack Cole, but it also steins from Mattox's association with ballet choreographer Eugene Loring. With his American School of Dance in Los Angeles in the late 1940s and into the 1950s, Loring pioneered a form of dance he called "freestyle" and Mattox was there to be influenced. I have studied with Mattox for nearly twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. , and for my MA at NYU NYU New York University NYU New York Undercover (TV show) I researched his career in depth, creating the thesis--"Image of Perfection--The Freestyle Jazz Dance of Matt Mattox" (1995). Those interested in learning more about Mattox, can find it now at the Dance Collection at Lincoln Center. BOB BOROSS DEPARTMENT OF DANCE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). , IRVINE |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion