Commissioned by GJDC and unveiled during its spring program, Pyrokinesis begins soft and barefoot before the dancers don jazz shoes and burst into high-energy leaps and spins, crisscrossing the stage with conviction. “It’s like water boiling—something on the fire that’s kind of simmering, and then it explodes,” Huggins says. “That is what pyrokinesis is: It’s something that explodes from the inside out.”

On a program full of company performances, Huggins’s new piece, A Solo, is unusual not only in that he hasn’t taken the stage in years, but also in that he started working on the piece only two weeks ago. A Solo, scheduled for Friday 3, is set to classic jazz by Duke Ellington.

Much of the dance performed at the festival is arguably more contemporary than the upbeat rhythms and sharp moves that most people think of when they hear the words jazz dance. The diversity and inclusiveness (there’s even a tap company on the roster) are intentional, all in the spirit of founder Gus Giordano’s original intent. He started the Jazz Dance World Congress to bring together dancers from around the globe to learn, perform and share in their evolving art form. Now, GJDC is directed by Giordano’s daughter, Nan, who helps curate the festival. “There are some people out there in the dance world that think jazz dance is only done to jazz music,” she says. “That is not my philosophy, nor was it my father’s. It’s soulful, it’s power, it’s passion. And where you take it, can go many different directions.”

By contrast, Huggins wants his solo to showcase the traditional jazz idiom, framed by jazz music. “I’m not going to be up there doing tricks and leaps,” says Huggins, who prefers to leave those to the younger dancers for whom he choreographs. “I will be trying to stay within the style of jazz and have some finesse and elegance: very slick and sleek.”

Huggins’s work makes up just a fraction of the festival’s packed lineups. Each night features a smattering of companies from around the world, anchored by GJDC and fellow local companies, including Thodos Dance Chicago, Muntu Dance Theatre, Jump Rhythm Jazz Project, Chicago Tap Theatre, Joel Hall Dancers and River North Chicago.

On the Friday 3 and Saturday 4 programs, for example, you’ll find Masashi Action Machine, a quirky, intense company from Japan. On Saturday 4, Cuerpo Etéreo Danza Contemporánea from Mexico offers “breathtaking partnering and a real cutting edge,” Nan says.

And in an everything-comes-full-circle moment, River North Chicago co–artistic director emerita Sherry Zunker will gift her work The Man That Got Away to GJDC in honor of Gus Giordano on Friday 3. A longtime staple in River North’s repertoire, this dramatic duet was created for the first festival in 1990—proof that what goes around comes around.

The Jazz Dance World Festival is at the Harris Theater through Saturday 4. Each program is different.