Amy Paul Giordano

Amy is honored to continue the legacy her father, Gus, and mother, Peg, created in 1953 of directing a dance school with the perfect combination of professionalism and warmth that Peg and Gus gave to all their students. Gus opened the School to spread his love of jazz dance to the world. He is known as the “Godfather of Jazz Dance.” Peg handled the scheduling of classes, faculty, accounting, marketing & more. Gus’ belief was a jazz dancer must have a strong base in all forms of dance: ballet, tap, jazz and modern, and this philosophy is continued today at GUS®, the original Gus Giordano Dance School, under Amy.  

Amy grew up dancing & trained in all styles while assisting her parents with every aspect of running the School. Amy trained until she shattered her kneecap as a passenger in a car accident. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University, Amy worked as an Accountant Representative for Grey Advertising, Marketing Supervisor at DMB&B & Director of Marketing at Budget Rent a Car. During this time, Amy also worked for her father as Executive Coordinator and Executive Treasurer for Jazz Dance World Congress created in 1990 by Gus. 

Amy’s professional performances began at age 6 with multiple dance commercials for Sears & Co, 100th Anniversary Celebration of Hiram & Walker, PBS special "Ritual D" dancing alongside her father, along with numerous dance performances throughout Chicagoland.

Amy's extensive dance knowledge from her own personal dance training to everything her parents taught her enables her to continue providing the highest quality of dance training from children to professional dancers. Amy has an eye for developing programs for dancers of any age.

In 1993, Peg passed away and Amy assumed all of her mother’s responsibilities of running the School.  She also became her father’s personal assistant at this time until his death in 2008. Amy was honored to receive the Chatre de Godi Centro de Danza Award in 2004 for her work with her father Gus on the Jazz Dance World Congress.

Amy credits both of her parents for her love and dedication to offering the highest quality of dance instruction to all ages at all levels, as she loves building confidence and guiding dancers from age 2 to professionals. She is the proud mother of Lauren, Edward, and Sarah. Her maternal qualities contribute to the family-oriented nature of GUS®.

After the passing of her father in 2008, Amy produced the documentary, Gus An American Icon. Amy gathered commentary from Gus’ friends, artists, collaborators and dancers whose lives and careers he helped shape. Judi Missett, founder of Jazzercise and Margo Sappington were among the interviewees and they both commented how Gus was a significant mentor and collaborator in their lives. The documentary is an honest look at the life and times of Gus as a jazz dance master, teacher, choreographer and founding father of jazz dance. Gus An American Icon premiered at the Jazz Dance World Congress in 2009 and the documentary won the Award of Excellence at the Canada International Film Festival and Award of Merit at The Indie Fest.

Culture Shock Chicago honored Amy in 2017 for her outstanding commitment to preserving her father’s legacy. Gus spent his career educating & training dancers all over the world about Jazz dance. Jazz dance, as Gus explained is the only dance form that is always changing and evolving. Amy's mission is to continue Gus' vision, as Gus explained "Jazz dance is a living art form, changing with the fashion of the times, but its roots remain in the original classic Jazz method, which never goes out of style.”

In 2018, Amy was awarded The Kurt Mathiasson Award for Community Service. The award is given to an individual who most exemplifies Kurt's devotion and commitment to the ongoing vitality of the Andersonville community. Amy embodies the spirit of this award through her non-stop efforts to not only expertly run GUS®, but to bring the school out to the community. She brilliantly continues the legacy of her father.

Amy is the Founder & Executive Director of The Gus Giordano Jazz Legacy Foundation and the Artistic Director of the Gus Legacy Company. Amy established the Gus Legacy Foundation on July 10, 2017, Gus’ birthday. It was a long-time goal of Amy’s to create a non-profit organization that would preserve Gus’ legacy and pay tribute to her father. Gus believed that dance and music is a living art form that should be used as an instrument to impact the physical, emotional, and intellectual development of people around the world. The Gus Legacy Foundation provides accessible dance programs to underserved youth and young adults to increase their physical and mental health, confidence, and to gain critical skills that last a lifetime. The Gus Legacy Company is composed of professional dancers who come together from all over the United States to perform in shows and special events with the shared goal of supporting the Gus Legacy Foundation.  

Click here to learn more about the Gus Legacy Foundation and click here to learn more about the Gus Legacy Company.