'Dancing with the Giordano Stars': Bringing dancers and locals together for charity

Giordano Dance Chicago will present its annual “Dancing with the Giordano Stars” event at Park West on Thursday, October 5. Patterned after the popular ABC hit show, “Dancing with the Stars,” this dance competition pairs professional GDC dancers with the who’s who of Chicago’s civic, social and business communities to vie for “Best Male Dancer,” “Best Female Dancer” and “People’s Choice” honors before a panel of judges. The event raises funds for the nonprofit dance company and its educational outreach programming.

The event will begin at 7 pm and will include the following dancers and their partners:

Matt Bozzo & Sasha Lazarus

Joe Brown & Katie Rafferty

Gorman Cook & Erina Ueda

Susan Flynn & Adam Houston

Nicole Klotz & Zach Heller

Pat Manus & Cesar G. Salinas

Stacie McClane & Fernando Rodriguez

Tina Monaghan & Ryan Galloway

Sheri Passalino & Rosario Guillen

David Prange & Ashley Downs

Mario Sullivan & Amanda Hickey

ABOUT GIORDANO DANCE CHICAGO’S MISSION

Giordano Dance Chicago's educational mission includes its signature arts integration program, Jazz Dance/Science & Health (JD/SH), which employs a dance-centric framework to teach state-mandated elementary school anatomy and nutrition curriculum within the science classroom. Offered in the Spring of each year since 2006, this seven-week, no-cost program has served more than 5,500 Chicago Public School students in Garfield Park, East Garfield Park, Englewood, Edgewater, and Auburn Gresham. In 2023, JD/SH served 290 students in four schools in Humboldt Park and Logan Square.   

GIORDANO DANCE CHICAGO FREE TICKET PROGRAM

GDC believes it is important for students to have access to seeing the performing arts. As part of its free ticket program, they provide 800 free performance tickets to see the company perform at the Harris Theater to its CPS partners and numerous other organizations, including other dance companies, throughout the city.