103: Gus Giordano and the Joy of Generosity — Amy Giordano

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week on 5.6.7.EIGHT, Aleksandra speaks with Amy Giordano, Founder and Executive Director at</span> <a href="https://guslegacy.org/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The Gus Giordano Jazz Legacy Foundation</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">and Executive Director at Gus Giordano Dance School.</span> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">Growing up, Amy danced and trained in all styles, while assisting her parents – Gus and Peg Giordano — as they ran the school. However, after a car accident shattered her kneecap, she was forced away from the stage. Amy went on to pursue a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University and, upon her mother’s passing in 1993, assumed all of her mother’s responsibilities at the school.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On her father’s birthday in July of 2017, Amy founded the Gus Giordano Jazz Legacy Foundation, which offers financial assistance for dancers seeking education at the school. On the podcast, Amy speaks directly to the pride she takes in carrying on her father’s legacy — a legacy of extreme generosity, driven by a love of people and a love of the arts — and how, now, Gus’s spirit</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">and</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">his movement will be carried on from generation to generation.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Moving Quotes:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The school was never to promote Gus; it was always about promoting the dancers."</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"This year, the foundation has become even more important with the pandemic. It's turned the world upside down for so many dancers... I feel so fortunate to help more children in a time where life is so upside down. I can give them the consistency of dance."</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"At the school, I tell my dancers, 'Yes, you're all doing the same technique. But I want your influence on it. Because that's what makes it c