
JORDAN RYDER
SDC Member
ABOUT
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Jordan Ryder is a choreographer, movement director, and educator based in New York City. She is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with minors in Entertainment Business and Sociology, and was awarded the Phyllis Lamhut Award for Dance Excellence. Her career bridges the worlds of concert and commercial dance, weaving together storytelling and contemporary movement. She has choreographed and directed works for the dance, film, and theater across the United States, and her work has also reached international audiences virtually.
Her theater credits include How My Grandparents Fell in Love (New Jersey Repertory Company, 2025 Regional), Make Believe (New Jersey Repertory Company, 2025 Regional), White Rose: The Musical (Theater Row, 2024 Off-Broadway), and Singfeld! A Musical About Nothing (Jerry Orbach Theater, 2023 Off-Broadway).
Jordan's production of SHERLOCK, a dance adaptation of a Sherlock Holmes episode, sparked her vision of developing a new form of dance theater through adaptations of film and television. This growing body of work reflects her commitment to inviting audiences into narrative in fresh ways while placing them at the heart of contemporary dance.
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Contemporary commissions include Eryc Taylor Dance (Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Alchemical Studios NYC, Martha Graham Studio Theater), NYU Tisch School of the Arts (Jack Crystal Theater), Rogue Wave Dance (Fall for Fall Festival), Mélange Dance Company (PAC, IL), One Day Dance (Virtual), and the Bromance Web Series (Virtual). Her film NEXUS II was an Official Selection of the New York Arthouse Film Festival in 2023.
RyderDance was founded in 2018 as a contemporary collective built on collaboration and narrative-driven choreography. The company has presented work in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and beyond, carving out a space for accessible dance that resonates across audiences. RyderDance continues to expand its reach with annual seasons, commissions, festival appearances, and online projects.
As an educator, Jordan is on faculty at Peridance Center, Ballet Hispánico, and Broadway Dance Center, and has taught workshops nationwide. She is a proud member of SDC.
As a performer, Jordan has worked with Yoshito Sakuraba of Abarukas Dance, Guanglei Hui of Cross Move Dance Lab, and has appeared in campaigns for Marc Jacobs, John Ashford Shoes, and Sotheby’s Auction House.
Ryder’s work reveals a curiosity for how movement can hold memory and spark connection, layering gesture and contemporary technique into vivid storytelling.​
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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.