Jordan Ryder

CHOREOGRAPHER • MOVEMENT DIRECTOR • DANCE EDUCATOR

ABOUT

Jordan Ryder is a dynamic artist based in New York City, known for her work as a choreographer, movement director, dancer, educator, and media director. With roots in Chicago, she began her training at esteemed institutions such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the mentorship of Claire Bataille, and Extensions Dance Company, guided by Lizzie MacKenzie. Jordan further honed her craft at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where she earned a BFA in Dance, minored in Sociology, and explored the intersection of creativity and business within the entertainment industry. Throughout her time at NYU, she had the privilege of performing works by influential choreographers including Crystal Pite, Paul Taylor, and James Martin, and expanded her artistic perspective through international training in Israel, Ireland, and Germany. She was also honored with the Phyllis Lamhut Award for Dance Excellence.

In 2018, Jordan founded RyderDance, a contemporary dance company dedicated to blending narrative and physicality in innovative ways. Her choreographic works have been presented in a variety of spaces, from Dixon Place and Triskelion Arts to Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the historic Loew’s Jersey Theatre. Her choreography, marked by its fluid interplay of structure and imagination, has garnered recognition, including the 2018 Eryc Taylor Dance New Choreographer Grant. She has also been commissioned to create new works for NYU Tisch Dance, Peridance Center, and the Rogue Wave Dance Festival, among others.

Jordan’s creative vision extends across both live theater and film. She recently choreographed the Off-Broadway production of White Rose The Musical (2023 Choreographer, Movement Director for 2024) and Singfeld! A Musical About Nothing (Choreographer 2023). Her screen credits include Bromance: Season 3 and she has collaborated with a variety of contemporary dance companies as a mover, such as Abarukas Dance and Cross Move Dance Lab. As a multifaceted artist, Jordan's diverse body of work has also led her to appear in campaigns for Marc Jacobs and John Ashford Shoes, seamlessly blending commercial and concert dance in her artistic pursuits.

In addition to her performance and choreographic work, Jordan is deeply invested in the growth of the dance community. As the Marketing and Media Coordinator for Peridance Center and Digital Marketing Coordinator for Doug Varone & Dancers, she works behind the scenes to amplify the visibility and impact of dance in the broader cultural landscape. As an educator, Jordan teaches contemporary dance at Peridance Center, Ballet Hispanico, Broadway Dance Center, and The School at Peridance, nurturing artists to approach movement with creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking.

Jordan’s career reflects her unwavering dedication to expanding the reach of dance—blurring the lines between performance, education, film, and media—while always seeking new ways to inspire, connect, and provoke through movement.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am interested in combining storytelling with contemporary movement in order to elevate traditional performance and turn it multi dimensional. My movement introduces a gradient that ebbs and flows between structure and fantasy, literal and figurative, text and context. The physicality of my work guides the audience’s eye into a dance of its own, igniting the nerves and senses. With ephemeral movements grounded in characterization and story, the work leaves each audience member with their own interpretation and experience. Dance can be expansive, exhilarating and personal all at once and that is something that should be shared and celebrated.

I also work to expand my creations’ reach and accessibility by exploring new audiences and mediums. I am currently experimenting with merging the worlds of commercial and concert dance, two disciplines that I believe could greatly benefit from one another. Pairing the literal and enticing with the abstract and elusive could widen each style’s reach and cultivate a broader more inclusive dance and artistic audience and community. This relentless evolution is a tenant of my artistic practice that keeps me constantly learning, adapting and curious, never at rest.