Founded by Gus Giordano in 1963 as Dance Incorporated Chicago, it has toured worldwide, including as the first jazz dance company in the Soviet Union in 1974. The company has received widespread critical acclaim, and is said to have been the first jazz dance company. After Gus Giordano died in 2008, his daughter Nan, who had been Artistic Director since the 1980s, took full leadership. Nan,  and some of her dancers,  came down to teach a masterclass for the Dance Magnet.