The ensemble performs choreography by zollar and other choreographers, often with a focus on the experiences of women of african descent. But by 10pm on friday when urban bush womens performance ended, i think i gained a little more sympathy. Urban bush women became the first major dance company consisting of allfemale africanamerican dancers. Choreographic center initiative cci programming and activities take a twopronged approach. Greenlight bookstore prospect lefferts gardens store. A few years after coming to temple university, chatterjea met jawole willa jo zollar and the urban bush women, inc. With the groundbreaking performance ensemble at its core, ongoing initiatives like the summer. Ubw continues to celebrate over 30 years of creating dance, engaging communities and using dance to bring together audiences through innovative. Twenty years of african american dance theater, community engagement, and. These are a few words that have been used to describe the groundbreaking brooklynbased dance troupe urban bush women. Charles moulton and jawole willa jo zollar, director of the urban bush women, are very dissimilar experimental choreographers.
Urban bush women and voices from the bush contemporary. We do this from a womancentered perspective and as members of the african diaspora community in order to create a more equitable balance of power in the. Ubw galvanizes artists, activists, audiences and communities through performances, artist development, education and community engagement. Urban bush women concerts are also deeply rooted in community activism, using socially conscious performances in places around the countryfrom the kennedy center, the lincoln center, and the joyce, to community centers and school auditoriumsto inspire audience members to engage in neighborhood change and challenge stereotypes of gender. Urban bush women, nor is it an afterthought to their performance work. Urban bush women is a clear, concise, and accessible text that will appeal to a broad audience because of its interdisciplinary subject matter. Urban bush women and junebug productions with support from the contemporary arts center new orleans performance support program presented urban bush women and voices from the bush with special guests sunni patterson, craig harris, and rhodessa jones livestreamed on the global, commonsbased peer produced howlround tv network at on saturday 25 july at 7 p. Here was a dance theatre determined by women, and about women dancing in community with ideas of resistance and liberation at the core. Urban bush women and voices from the bush pelican bomb. On urban bush womens third visit to jacobs pillow, july 2428, 1990, it seems that the very nature of their work was on a steep upward trajectory in terms of the elaborateness of the production, zollars expanding artistic vision, and the ambitiousness of the project.
Founded in 1984 by choreographer jawole willa jo zollar, urban bush women ubw brings the untold and undertold histories and stories of disenfranchised people to light through dance. As the paradoxical name suggests, the new york city based dance troupe urban bush women combines the spiritual elements of traditional african and caribbean dance, song, and music with contemporary, western dance forms. As the subtitle of the book suggests, she centers her scholarship on the concept of working, arguing that urban bush womens dances attend to the bodies and souls of individuals and communities, and that healing occurs when one works the roots, works the body, works the soul, works the tangles out 4. The critically acclaimed dance company urban bush women ubw will be the focus of yale dance theaters spring 2017 project. The group seeks to bring the untold and undertold histories and stories of disenfranchised people to light through dance and does this from a. Urban bush womens uniquely bold and boundarypushing nonlinear storytelling weaves contemporary dance, music, and text with the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of african americans and the african diaspora. Urban bush women concerts are also deeply rooted in community activism, using socially conscious performances in places around the country from the kennedy center, the lincoln center, and the joyce, to community centers and school auditoriums to inspire audience members to engage in neighborhood change and challenge stereotypes of gender. About ubw dance urban bush women ubw is uniquely committed to making dance the language that brings undertold stories to life through the art and vision o. As ubw celebrates its 30th anniversary year, they continue to use dance as both the message and the medium to bring together diverse audiences through innovative choreography, community.
Urban bush women, a not forprofit dance ensemble now composed of 6 women and one man, was founded in 1984 by jawole willa jo zollar, 66, an american dancer, teacher and choreographer. Wisconsin university press 2010 provocative, moving, powerful, explicit, strong, unapologetic. The initiative began as a way to directly combat barriers that hinder women and girls of color in the field of dance. This is a markedly different approach from the outreach initiatives of many companies, for whom community engagement is a means to a. So says a member of urban bush women during the troupes new work, walking with trane, which opened at the. Urban bush women and junebug productions with support from the contemporary arts centers performance support program presents urban bush women and voices from the bush with special guests sunni patterson, craig harris, and rhodessa jones urban bush women and voices from the bush is a multidisciplinary performance inspired by urban bush womens 30th anniversary program. Urban bush women and voices from the bush howlround theatre. The medical arts program is an initiative of michigan medicine at the university of michigan. Urban bush women news newspapers books scholar jstor march 2017 learn how and when to remove this template. This illustrated book captures the grace and power of the dancers in motion. Celebrating its 33rd anniversary year, urban bush women uses dance as both the message and the medium to bring together diverse audiences through innovative choreography, community collaboration and artistic leadership.
Nadine georgegraves presents a comprehensive history of urban bush women since their founding in 1984. Chicken soup, by blondell cummings and urban bush women walking with pearl. Osumare discusses her new book in conversation with jawole zollar, founder of urban bush women. In 1984, jawole willa jo zollar founded the urban bush women, which. With the groundbreaking performance ensemble at its core, ongoing initiatives like the summer leadership institute sli, bold builders, organizer. The experiences of students i listened to with a deaf ear and authors i had to read about with a blind eye, came alive in the performance. If you live in an urban area in the northeastern us and have even the slightest interest in natureplants, you should get this book. Twenty years of african american dance theater, community engagement, and working it out, by nadine georgegraves. She analyzes their complex work, drawing on interviews with current and former dancers and. Zollar has numerous premiere works to her credit, as well as awards and educational fellowships. Were there as members of this acclaimed dance troupe rehearse for their appearance at the 11th annual fort greene juneteenth arts festival.
Urban bush women and junebug productions with support from the. She analyzes their complex work, drawing on interviews with current and former dancers and her own observation of and participation in urban bush women rehearsals. Trying to describe coltranes music is like trying to describe god. One of them was jawole willa jo zollar, who went on to found urban bush women, a predominantly black and female moderndance company. Urban bush women ubw, founded in 1984 by jawole willa jo zollar, is a brooklyn, new york based nonprofit dance company and the only professional africanamerican womens dance company in existence. The center supports the development of women choreographers of color and other underheard voices. Its written as a field guide for the amateur plantidentifier, with plenty of pictures and notes about distinguishing closely related species. Founded in 1984 by choreographer jawole willa jo zollar, urban bush women ubw seeks to bring the untold and undertold histories and stories of disenfranchised people to light through dance. Artistic director jawole willa jo zollar describes ubw as an ensemble dedicated to using cultural expression as a catalyst for social change. Inspire a love of reading with prime book box for kids.
Pages businesses nonprofit organization urban bush women videos t h e u b w w a y. Provocative, moving, powerful, explicit, strong, unapologetic. Africa and southern diaries, with jawole willa jo zollar. Urban bush women to explore issues of body image, race and. In 20, urban bush women kicked off their choreographic center initiative, which expands on the companys mission statement and core values. Twenty years of african american dance theater, community engagement, and working it out studies in dance history paperback july 8, 2010. Like the childhood songs and buttshaking contests of ghana, batty moves by the brooklynbased dance company urban bush women celebrates the african american female form. The choreographer and the dancers share their memories of butttucking ballet classes, and the author shares her memory walk from ghana to black america. Urban bush women concerts are also deeply rooted in community activism, using. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Post jobs, find pros, and collaborate commissionfree in our professional marketplace. The urban bush women dance company draws from john coltranes a love supreme for inspiration in trane, which is having its world premiere at opening nights performing arts. At the confluence of two important anniversariesthe albums 50th and urban bush womens 30thfounder jawole willa jo zollar was poised to. Out of town the deluxe facility that the performingarts organization lumberyard is building in catskill, new york, wont open till the fall, but several shows the institution.
Urban bush women ubw, founded in 1984 by jawole willa jo zollar, is a brooklyn, new yorkbased nonprofit dance company and the only professional africanamerican womens dance company in existence. Urban bush women and voices from the bush howlround. Urban bush women ubw is a brooklynbased contemporary dance company dedicated to exploring the use of cultural expression as a catalyst for social change founded in 1984 by jawole willa jo zollar. Presented by urban bush women and junebug productions with support from the contemporary arts center new orleans performance support program, urban bush women and voices from the bush is a multidisciplinary performance inspired by urban bush womens 30th anniversary program that highlights the companys 30year repertory featuring excerpts from womens. Georgegraves effectively demonstrates the significance of urban bush women as both an innovative dance company and an important cultural resource for articulating african american and womanist. Their unique aesthetic borrows from classical and contemporary dance techniques and theater characterization exercises, incorporates breath and vocalization, and employs space and movement to. Urban bush women ubw, founded in 1984 by jawole willa jo zollar, is a brooklyn, new. Urban bush women galvanizes artists, activists, audiences and communities through performances, artist development, education and community engagement. Twenty years of african american dance theater, community engagement, and working it out. Dismissed when it was first released, it soon came to be seen as affirming a divinity that defies dogma or definition. Memory walking with urban bush womens batty moves tdr.