Susan Jordan

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Susan Jordan (born 1947) is a New Zealand dancer, choreographer and teacher.

Biography
- She began dancing at age 7 and joined the New Zealand Ballet Company at 17. She briefly paused to study typing, shorthand, and theology, but soon returned to dance.
- Jordan earned a Master of Arts in dance in Washington, D.C., where she learned from Martha Graham. After returning to New Zealand, she helped start the University of Auckland’s dance studies program and taught the Graham technique.
- In 1976 she founded Movement Theatre, a modern dance company in Auckland. She later started her own company, Jordan & Present Co., and in the 1980s and 1990s choreographed works for Creative New Zealand and its predecessors, plus other private commissions. In 1993 she was asked to create a piece to commemorate the centenary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand. Her choreography is often described as postmodern, focusing on new ways for performers and audiences to connect.
- In 2011 she started a dance program for older adults, originally called Dance Mobility and later renamed SeniorDANCE, to help seniors stay active. The program aims to improve balance and coordination and has been recognised as a way to help prevent falls.
- In 2018 she received funding to complete a research project on creative ageing. She is president of the Northern Dance Network, a group formed in 1992 to support dance, and she helped establish the Tempo Dance Festival in 2003.

Awards and honours
- In the 2024 New Year Honours, Jordan was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for services to seniors and dance.

Further reading
- Bolwell, Jan; Wellington College of Education (1992). Susan Jordan: the making of a New Zealand choreographer: a biographical essay. Wellington: Wellington College of Education.