CUNY Dance Initiative to Showcase New Development of CLUB ACT by The New Jack Cole Dancers

The CUNY Dance Initiative will present a developmental showing of CLUB ACT by The NEW Jack Cole Dancers on Saturday, February 7, at 7:00 p.m. The performance will take place in the Little Theater at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, located at 31-10 Thomson Avenue in Long Island City.

General admission tickets are priced at $15, with student tickets available for $10.

CLUB ACT is an evening-length jazz dance and music work originally presented at The Midnight Theater in 2024 and expanded for this developmental showing. Set within a mid-century jazz club environment, the piece serves as a contemporary homage to dance pioneer Jack Cole. The new version features jazz and theater dance choreography by Cam Loeser, drawing on Cole’s work across Broadway, Hollywood, and nightclub performance traditions, and is performed by dancers trained in Cole’s distinctive style.

From the mid-1930s through the 1960s, Jack Cole was a prominent figure in American jazz dance, known for blending world dance forms with jazz music in nightclub and theatrical settings in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. His influence extended to later figures in American dance, including Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins.

The residency of The NEW Jack Cole Dancers at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center is part of the CUNY Dance Initiative, which is spearheaded by Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College. CDI receives major support from The Mertz Gilmore Foundation and the Howard Gilman Foundation, with additional support from the SHS Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Charles E. Culpeper Arts & Culture program, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Harkness Foundation for Dance.

COLE JAZZ is a dance company focused on preserving and advancing the legacy of Jack Cole through performance and education. Its work includes international education initiatives and performances by its in-house company, The NEW Jack Cole Dancers.

The CUNY Dance Initiative was launched in 2014 following a pilot program supporting dance residencies on CUNY campuses. The initiative was developed in response to findings from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s 2010 report We Make Do, which identified the lack of affordable rehearsal space as a critical issue for New York City’s dance sector. Since its launch, CDI has supported hundreds of residencies for emerging and established choreographers while expanding access to dance for CUNY students and surrounding communities.