Lynn Simonson has been a popular teacher of jazz dance in New York and throughout the world since the early 1960s. During that time she has drawn on her dance studies to develop a movement technique for jazz and modern dance that is independent of a particular style. Her technique is a result of her inquiries into dancing without injuries, and her method of teaching involves frequent references to anatomy and imagery.

Simonson grew up in Seattle, Washington, where she received her early training in ballet with former dancers from the Ballet Russes. At the age of 16, she won her first Equity job in musical theatre, and strayed from her classical upbringing after hearing a Mile Davis album. She made her way to NY at 18 in 1961, and soon found herself dancing four shows a day with the Radio City Ballet corps. Between shows, she found time to take jazz classes with Jaime Rogers and Claude Thompson at the June Taylor studio. She was suited to the strong, tight style of Rogers, but she expanded her abilities when she started classes in the more lyrical style of Luigi.

She began teaching in NY, and was asked to teach in Holland in 1967. It was at this time that she seriously began to formulate her technical approach to jazz dance. Simonson was hampered with chronic injuries, so she began a study of anatomy and kinesiology in order to develop an approach to dance that would prepare a body to dance without being dependent on a particular style of jazz dance. Over the years, her Simonson jazz technique has been taught in New York at the Morelli Studio, and then at DanceSpace, a large studio complex at 622 Broadway, that was co-founded by Simonson. Her technique is the official jazz technique of DanceSpace. She has instituted an 18 week jazz dance teacher's training program, and has co-sponsored jazz dance concerts with Evolving Arts, Inc., the non-profit performance wing of DanceSpace. Simonson jazz technique is taught in 16 countries, and is popular in Japan, Holland, and Quebec, as well as being the primary jazz dance technique of the University of Massachusetts and Kent State University.

Bob Boross