Susan Jordan

Jordan began dancing at the age of 7, and danced professionally with the New Zealand Ballet Company from the age of 17. She briefly gave up dancing to study typing and shorthand at a business school, and then theology with the aim of becoming a missionary, however she returned to dancing.

Jordan considered studying ballet in England or Australia but instead completed a Master of Arts degree in dance in Washington, D.C in the United States, where she was exposed to the teachings of Martha Graham.{{Cite web|title=Crave Cafe|url=https://www.cravecafe.co.nz/|access-date=2021-09-08|website=Crave Cafe|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908114312/https://www.cravecafe.co.nz/|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last=Schultz|first=Marianne|date=2011|title=Phantom Limbs|url=http://www.nzjh.auckland.ac.nz/docs/2011/NZJH_45_2_05.pdf|journal=New Zealand Journal of History|pages=225–245|access-date=2021-09-08|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908104841/http://www.nzjh.auckland.ac.nz/docs/2011/NZJH_45_2_05.pdf|url-status=live}} On her return to New Zealand she established the dance studies programme at the University of Auckland and taught the Graham technique.{{Cite web|title=Susan Jordan|url=https://www.thebigidea.nz/profile/susan-jordan|access-date=2021-09-08|website=The Big Idea|language=en|archive-date=2020-12-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218123012/https://www.thebigidea.nz/profile/susan-jordan|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Flightdec|title=Looking Back, Moving Forward|url=https://danz.org.nz/looking%20back%2c%20moving%20forward|access-date=2021-09-08|website=DANZ|language=en-NZ|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908102333/https://danz.org.nz/looking%20back,%20moving%20forward|url-status=live}} In 1976, she founded a modern dance company in Auckland called Movement Theatre.{{Cite web|last=Taonga|first=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu|title=Modern dance flourishes, 1970s and 1980s|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/contemporary-dance/page-3|access-date=2021-09-08|website=teara.govt.nz|language=en|archive-date=2021-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612093844/https://teara.govt.nz/en/contemporary-dance/page-3|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Flightdec|title=In Conversation With Chris Jannides|url=https://danz.org.nz/in%20conversation%20with%20chris%20jannides|access-date=2021-09-08|website=DANZ|language=en-NZ|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908102053/https://danz.org.nz/in%20conversation%20with%20chris%20jannides|url-status=live}}

Jordan established her own dance company, Jordan & Present Co, and during the 1980s and 1990s choreographed works for Creative New Zealand and its predecessor the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, as well as privately commissioned pieces.{{Cite web|title=Jordan & Present Company|url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22491445|access-date=2021-09-08|website=Jordan & Present Company {{!}} Items {{!}} National Library of New Zealand {{!}} National Library of New Zealand|language=en|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908105637/https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22491445|url-status=live}} In 1993 she was commissioned to create a piece to commemorate the centenary of women's suffrage in New Zealand.{{Citation|last1=Jordan|first1=Susan|title=Holy women.|date=1993|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/232470351|place=Wellington, N.Z.|publisher=Jordan & Present Co.|language=en|oclc=232470351|access-date=2021-09-08|last2=Jordan & Present Co|last3=Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908105300/https://www.worldcat.org/title/holy-women/oclc/232470351%26referer%3Dbrief_results|url-status=live}} Her choreography has been described as postmodern, aiming to create new relationships between performers and their audience.

In 2011 Jordan established a dance programme for senior citizens, originally named Dance Mobility and later re-branded as SeniorDANCE, to encourage seniors to keep active.{{Cite web|date=2021-05-18|title=Dance as a form of 'creative ageing'|url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018795950/susan-jordan-on-dancing-for-creative-ageing|access-date=2021-09-08|website=RNZ |language=en-nz|archive-date=2021-08-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818083004/https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018795950/susan-jordan-on-dancing-for-creative-ageing|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Seniors dance to their own beat in community dance troupe|url=https://www.magic.co.nz/home/archivedtalk/on-demand/morning-talk/2018/09/seniors-dancing-to-their-own-beat-in-community-dance-troupe.html|access-date=2021-09-08|website=Magic|language=en|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908100617/https://www.magic.co.nz/home/archivedtalk/on-demand/morning-talk/2018/09/seniors-dancing-to-their-own-beat-in-community-dance-troupe.html|url-status=live}} The programme teaches older people to dance and aims to build balance and co-ordination, and has been recognised by the New Zealand Accident Compensation Corporation as an initiative that can help prevent falls in older adults.{{Cite web|title=Sprightly seniors dancing in the aisles|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/sprightly-seniors-dancing-in-the-aisles/S7TKVBP7TKONQZGXK3VTYF7OI4/|access-date=2021-09-08|website=NZ Herald|language=en-NZ|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908095223/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/sprightly-seniors-dancing-in-the-aisles/S7TKVBP7TKONQZGXK3VTYF7OI4/|url-status=live}}

In 2018 Jordan received funding from Creative New Zealand to complete a research project on creative ageing.{{Cite web|title=Creative New Zealand Supports Creative Ageing {{!}} Creative New Zealand|url=https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/news/creative-new-zealand-supports-creative-ageing|access-date=2021-09-08|website=www.creativenz.govt.nz|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908110442/https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/news/creative-new-zealand-supports-creative-ageing|url-status=live}}

Jordan is president of the Northern Dance Network, a charitable organisation that creates 'pathways and opportunities for dance and dancers' formed in 1992, and established the Tempo Dance Festival in 2003.{{Cite web|title=About - Northern Dance Network|url=https://www.ndn.org.nz/about/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-08|website=Northern Dance Festival|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908210253/https://www.ndn.org.nz/about/}}

In the 2024 New Year Honours, Jordan was awarded a Queen's Service Medal, for services to seniors and dance.{{Cite web |date=2023-12-30 |title=New Year Honours List 2024 {{!}} Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) |url=https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/new-year-honours-list-2024 |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=www.dpmc.govt.nz |language=en}}

• {{Cite book|last1=Bolwell|first1=Jan|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1135029235|title=Susan Jordan: the making of a New Zealand choreographer : a biographical essay|last2=Wellington College of Education|date=1992|publisher=Wellington College of Education|isbn=978-0-908957-01-9|location=Wellington|language=en|oclc=1135029235|access-date=2021-10-27|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908153554/https://www.worldcat.org/title/susan-jordan-the-making-of-a-new-zealand-choreographer-a-biographical-essay/oclc/1135029235%26referer%3Dbrief_results|url-status=live}}

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Category:Living people

Category:New Zealand choreographers

Category:20th-century New Zealand dancers

Category:1947 births

Category:Academic staff of the University of Auckland

Category:Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal

Category:New Zealand female dancers